Dear John
by CarolinaGal08
Summary: "If you care about Liam..." The second John read those words, he should have known - Natalie might question his loyalty to her, but never to their son. If he'd put his pride aside long enough to think, he might have suspected something else was going on. By the time he does, will it be too late for his family?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Welcome to my next attempt to "fix" the latest damage the writers are doing to Jolie over on GH! I guess I should make it clear that I don't actually watch GH on a regular basis, but every couple of weeks (or when someone tips me off to something happening) I troll the net to find clips of what they're doing with John and Natalie and Liam. Obviously, as a Jolie fan, I was NOT happy to see that letter Natalie sent to John a few weeks ago. However, as soon as I saw John read that letter, I felt like something was wrong - no matter how angry she was, the Natalie we all knew would never force John to stay away from Liam.

Almost as soon as I heard John read the letter to Sam, the initial idea for this story popped into my head, and it's been growing ever since. I'll confess, I have a secret hope that if Melissa Archer were ever to come to GH, something like this would happen to explain away all the out of character behavior they've written for Natalie!

Those of you who read my first story, _Back to You_, the epilogue for that story will be posted this week, I'm just making a few final tweaks, but I wanted to get this first chapter up since it was finished. You may notice that this first chapter is a bit shorter than my usual chapters - not to fear, the rest will be longer, but this one is intended to just set the stage and get things rolling.

So, enough of my ramblings, let's get on with this story...

* * *

_Dear John…_

Natalie Banks paused with her pen hovering over the single sheet of paper. Looking up, she frowned at the woman standing above her, calmly pointing a handgun at her forehead.

"This will never work," Natalie insisted. "John will never buy this."

"Just write."

Natalie sighed and turned her attention back to the page, her hand shaking slightly as she wrote out the lies - that she didn't love John anymore, that she had moved on, that she'd fallen for someone else. When she felt the gun press into the side of her head to encourage her to write faster, she got some small satisfaction in thinking that this would be just one more clue for John to use in his search for her, one more sign that things weren't right. Natalie knew John McBain would never believe this of her, especially the bit she'd been ordered to add at the end.

_P.S. John, if you care about Liam, you will respect the restraining order and stay away from us._

Despite her flaws, despite everything that had or hadn't happened in their relationship over the years, Natalie was certain that no matter what she might write, John would never believe her capable of keeping their son away from him. Even if he believed the rest of the letter, Natalie hoped that John knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't deprive Liam of his father, especially not after everything they'd been through. If he hadn't figured it out already, this would be his clue that something was desperately wrong.

"When can I see my son?" Natalie asked, pausing before finishing the letter.

"Stupid girl," the female voice taunted from behind her. "I already told you, you don't get to see that little brat anymore."

"I've done everything you asked of me," Natalie said, struggling to keep her voice calm. "I just want to see Liam. I need to know he's safe!"

"The boy will be taken care of. Now sign the letter."

"No." Natalie set the pen down defiantly. "Not unless I get to see my son."

"Sign the letter." Natalie winced as the gun was pressed into her temple again. "Or your parents will find your body on their doorstep and all your precious son will know of his mother is a box of ashes on the mantle."

Natalie bit back a sob as she picked up the pen and signed her name at the bottom of the page.

* * *

John McBain sat on the edge of his hotel bed and looked down at the sheet of paper in his hands. He didn't even need to read it at this point to know exactly what it said, but he still felt as though he couldn't believe it without actually seeing the words on the page in Natalie's handwriting. Even as he read them, he couldn't quite make sense of them. They'd been through so much together, from Cristian's return from the dead to Mitch Laurence's torments to Natalie nearly marrying the wrong man less than a year earlier. After everything they'd survived, John couldn't quite wrap his head around the fact that a single kiss had been their undoing.

He knew the kiss had been wrong, of course, but was it enough to throw away their entire relationship without so much as a conversation? He'd been so sure that she just needed time to cool off, to let her anger fade. She just needed time, then she'd reach out and they'd start to put the pieces back together. When he'd seen that letter in Sam's hands, he'd been absolutely certain that that's what it was - the first step toward getting his family back.

Instead, the letter had ripped his son further away from him, and that was something John knew he couldn't stand for. Natalie was moving on. He didn't like it, but he knew in time he might be able to accept it. But there was not a chance in hell that he was going to stand by while she brought in someone else to play daddy to _his_ son. If Natalie or Clint thought that that was what they were going to do, John was determined to make sure they had another thing coming.

With a heavy sigh, he picked up his phone and dialed Alexis' number.

"It's me," he said when she finally picked up. "I'm done playing around, Alexis. It's time to go to war."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews and follows on the first chapter! This story is really starting to come together in my head and in my outlines for future chapters, so I'm excited to start getting it out there for all of you to enjoy. Thanks for your support and encouragement!

* * *

_One month later..._

The large riverfront mansion was almost completely dark when the small red convertible pulled around the circular driveway and stopped a few feet from the front door. Taking a look around as he stepped out the driver's side door, the short, slightly balding man in an expensive, tailored suit gulped nervously at the sight of the woman's shadow in the upstairs window. Adjusting his tie with clammy hands, he quickly walked up to the door and stepped into the house without knocking.

"You're late."

He nearly dropped his briefcase at the unexpected voice from the side of the entry hall.

"Allison," he said nervously, turning to face her. "You scared me."

"You were supposed to be here an hour ago. We have a great deal to discuss, Nicholas."

The man shook his head. "It couldn't be helped, I was dealing with her father. The man's not happy right now. He's starting to ask questions."

"So am I." Stepping out of the shadows, Allison Perkins placed her hands on her hips and glared at her visitor. "Right now, I'm asking how the hell you managed to let John McBain get a court date for next week."

"The judge has already delayed the hearing twice at my request, Allison. There was nothing left to do. I know you're upset, but I promise, everything will still go as planned. This is just a…a bump in the road."

"A bump in the road? A bump in the road?" Allison's voice rose higher with each syllable she uttered as she took another step closer to him. "I have spent the seven and a half months planning every detail of this mission, Nicholas. This is not just a bump in the road! If John McBain gets suspicious, this whole thing could go to hell. And where would be the justice in that?"

"He's not going to get suspicious," he tried to reassure her. "You should have seen him at our meeting last week. He's so angry at Natalie that he can barely see straight. There's no way he'll notice anything so long as he thinks his case is moving forward."

"And if he asks to see his son?" Allison asked. "Or…what if the judge actually grants him visitation rights? The last thing in the world we need right now is John McBain on a hunt for his child."

"We've covered our tracks too well to have anything point to us," he said. "Even if McBain gets suspicious and tries to see his son, he'll find that his precious Liam is long gone."

"He'd better."

"I still say the whole plan would be cleaner if we had just gotten rid of the child my way."

Allison's face hardened as she reached out and slapped him hard. "How dare you," she practically spat. "You know the teachings of the Messenger as well as anyone in this group. We are _never_ to harm a child, especially when that child's life can be used to destroy their parents' lives."

"And look what happened to the Messenger at the hands of a child he chose not to harm," the man pointed out. "Allison, we can't be foolish about this. If we're going to get justice, we have to be more aggressive."

"The Messenger planned long-term," Allison reminded him. "Nothing good can come from hasty action. You were warned at the beginning, justice for the Messenger will take time."

"I don't think…"

"Your lack of faith is distressing, Nicholas," Allison said, turning away from him and walking over to a small table. Opening its drawer, she sighed as she stared at its contents. "The Messenger seems to have had far more faith in you than you have in him."

"This is ridiculous. I'm not having this argument with you again, Allison." He quickly turned and headed for the door.

Reaching into the drawer, Allison took a final breath. "Nicholas!" she called out, turning around just as his hand froze about the door knob. Turning slowly, he looked questioningly at her, not seeing the gun in her hand until it was too late to run.

* * *

A week later, Tea Delgado leaned forward in her chair, resting her elbows on her desk and pressing her fingertips firmly into her temples. She was barely an hour into her second day back at the office after the disastrous week in Port Charles where she'd learned the child she'd been raising was not her son. Just four days had passed since she had stood at the local cemetery with her daughter and stepchildren and watched as her real son's tiny casket had been buried next to her husband. As she half-listened to Clint Buchanan rant on from his seat across her desk, she began to suspect that Danielle had been right - she should have taken at least a little time off instead of throwing herself straight into her work. With a heavy sigh, she reached out and pushed the file back across the desk.

"Clint, I agreed to represent Buchanan Enterprises' business interests, not help you take a child away from its father," Tea said impatiently. "Especially not John McBain. Besides, I thought you had another attorney handling Natalie's custody suit?"

Clint nodded and pushed the file straight back across the desk to her. "I did," he confirmed. "Nick Parker has been representing Natalie."

"Clint, I'm an excellent lawyer, but Nick Parker is the best family law attorney on the Eastern seaboard. Hell, he's probably one of the top five in the country. It would be stupid to have me on a case when Nick's already working on it. The man's a shark, Clint. If Natalie wants custody, she'll get it with Nick."

"And if I was still sure that Parker had his eye on the case, I'd agree with you completely," Clint said. "As it is, though, no one around here has seen or heard from him in almost a week. He's missed the last three meetings we had scheduled to discuss the case. The first hearing in this ridiculous lawsuit is scheduled for this afternoon. We're out of time, Tea. I need you ready in case he doesn't show this afternoon."

"Clint, absolutely nothing good can come of taking this case to court," Tea said. "The only one who'll end up hurt here is Liam. If Natalie would just think about offering a settlement, maybe a limited visitation schedule or…"

"Read the file, Tea," Clint instructed. "McBain doesn't want visitation, he's suing her for sole custody. You don't want to keep a child away from his father, that's one thing. I can understand that. But if you don't take my daughter's case, you might as well be helping John McBain rip Liam right out of his mother's arms. You of all people should want to prevent that from happening."

"Let's get one thing straight, Clint," Tea said, practically seething as she stood up and leaned forward, pressing her palms into the desk as she glared across at the man who was currently her least favorite client. "I will review this file, only because Natalie has been very good to Starr and Dani and Sam since Victor's death. But you do not ever, ever get to bring up my son and you sure as _hell_ don't get to use him to make me do your bidding. Got it?"

Clint nodded as he stood up. "The hearing's at one. Don't be late."

"I didn't say I would take the case," Tea protested as Clint walked toward the door. "I just said I would look at the file."

"You read that file, you'll take the case," Clint said confidently, not turning around as he opened the door and stepped out of Tea's office.

Tea groaned and slumped back down into her chair. Glancing over at the corner of her desk, she shook her head sadly at the framed picture staring back at her.

"Your brother-in-law's a real piece of work, Victor," she said to the picture, taking a deep breath before turning back to the file on her desk. "Alright, Nick Parker. Let's see how good this case you've built really is."


	3. Chapter 3

"Tea!"

Tea stopped and turned around in the hallway outside the courtroom, barely able to muster up a smile for the old friend approaching her.

"What brings you to court today?" Nora Buchanan asked pleasantly. "I didn't think you were doing much around here these days, what with how busy Clint's been keeping you with all the B.E. mergers and acquisitions he's been cooking up."

Tea nodded. "Yes, well, this is a special case."

Nora frowned and looked at the courtroom behind Tea. "Wait a minute…Judge Myers is hearing Natalie's custody suit today. Tea, you're not representing John in that case, are you? Do you really think that's such a good idea after…well, you know, after…"

"After losing my baby?" Tea asked. "It's okay, Nora. You can say it. It hurts, but it happened, and pretending like it didn't doesn't make it hurt me any less."

"Alright," Nora said hesitantly. "Do you really think representing John McBain in a custody suit is a good idea so soon after losing the baby?"

"I never let my personal life interfere with my professional one," Tea said, frowning as Nora arched an eyebrow skeptically. "Okay fine, with the exception of Todd Manning and Victor Lord, Jr. I have never let my personal life interfere with my professional work. I don't intend to start today."

"But Tea…"

"If it'll make you feel better, Nora, I'm not here representing John."

Nora nodded, a hint of relief as she looked at Tea. "That's good. The last thing you need right now is to be involved in a messy custody case."

"I didn't say I wasn't involved in the case," Tea said. "I just said I wasn't representing John. I'm here to represent Natalie."

Nora sighed. "Oh Tea…"

"Don't lecture me, Nora. I'm a grown woman, I can pick my own cases."

"But John McBain is a friend of yours, Tea. How can you try to take his child away from him?"

"It's a messy situation, Nora," Tea pointed out. "Natalie is family. She's my daughter's cousin. How can I stand by and watch John try to take her child away from _her_?"

"I didn't think you even liked Natalie."

Tea shrugged. "I don't dislike her. I'll admit we were never exactly friends, but most of that was because Victor didn't like her much. And the last few months…well, she's been very good to Danielle."

"How so?"

"Dani has not been taking Victor's death well. None of the kids have, but I think it's been especially hard for Danielle," Tea said. "After Todd was acquitted, everything sort of came to a head, and she couldn't take it anymore. She ran away. She was gone for four days before Natalie just happened to find her trying to hitchhike her way to Boston."

"What's in Boston?"

"You know, I've never really been clear on that part," Tea admitted. "And I don't know what Natalie said to get her to come back to Llanview, but whatever it was, it worked. She came home, and she actually apologized to me. I don't know what it was, but Natalie was able to get through to my daughter when I couldn't. I owe her for that."

"You'd take away John's son to repay some imagined debt to Natalie?" Nora asked in disbelief. "John would never take Liam away from Natalie in that way."

"Nora, he's suing for sole legal and physical custody."

"You're kidding," Nora gasped in surprise. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would he do that?"

Tea shrugged. "I'm not sure. He's on a war path that I wouldn't have expected from John McBain. I always thought he was the type to do the right thing, no matter what the cost. And from what I've seen, John's been a good father to Liam, even if he hasn't been around much the last few months. But this case…well, it looks like it's going to get very nasty very quickly."

"From your side or his?"

"Both," Tea admitted. "I only took the case a few hours ago, so there's a lot more I still need to do to get familiar with the specifics, but from what I've seen so far…well, let's just say it looks like the John McBain that Natalie knows isn't exactly the same man the rest of thought we knew."

* * *

_"Mommy, watch me!"_

_Natalie leaned back on the bench and laughed as she watched her son pump his legs back and forth, pushing his swing higher and higher._

_"Be careful, Liam!" she called out. "Not too high!"_

_Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned her head and smiled as her husband sat down next to her, a tiny pink bundle in his arms._

_"Any problems changing her?"_

_John rolled his eyes. "One time. I have a problem with your squirmy daughter one time, and I never live it down."_

_Natalie laughed and pulled back the blanket, leaning forward to kiss her daughter on the forehead. "Daddy's a little sensitive, don't you think, Theresa?"_

_"Where's Liam?"_

_"He's on the…" Natalie felt her heart stop as she looked over at the empty swing set. "He was right there. He was on the swings."_

_"Natalie, where's Liam?" John asked more forcefully, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her as his voice rose. "What the hell did you do with my son?"_

_"He was right there!" Natalie insisted, panic in her voice as she broke away from him and sprinted toward the swings. "Liam! Liam, where are you? Liam!"_

"Liam…" Natalie groaned as she opened her eyes, her heart racing as she slowly realized it had been a dream. Another night, another nightmare.

When Allison had taken her, she'd told her she was being punished. If that was the case, Natalie had to admit that as crazy as Allison was, she was doing a stellar job. Natalie couldn't think of a worse punishment for a mother than not knowing where her child was, or even knowing if her child was still alive. After all, it had been days - probably weeks, although she'd long since lost any track of time - since she had seen her son. For all she knew, the hole she'd seen one of Allison's henchmen digging during the night had been for Liam.

Shaking away the dark thoughts, Natalie slowly sat up and looked around the room. Sometimes she wondered why she did it. Every day, she spent the day looking over every inch of her little slice of hell, trying to find some way to escape. And every day she came up empty.

But to not try would be giving up, and as her father would tell her, she was a Buchanan...and Buchanans don't give up. So spent her days surveying the empty bedroom, hoping to find something that had been left behind when it had been stripped of all its furniture. And at night, she'd curl up on the floor by the barred window and restlessly dream of her family. It was all she had left of them, and every day she felt as though her chances of ever making it home to them were slipping further and further away.

* * *

"All rise! Court is now in session, the Honorable Judge Helen Myers presiding," the bailiff called out as Tea rose to her feet, refusing to turn her head to look across the courtroom where she knew John was standing with Alexis Davis. If she looked, that nagging feeling that there was something very wrong with the case she'd been handed might come back to her, and she couldn't have that feeling if she was going to be on her game for the hearing.

"Good afternoon," Judge Myers said as she motioned for everyone to be seated, then took a seat herself and pulled out her glasses. "Ms. Delgado, I'm surprised to see you at the table today. I was under the impression that Nicholas Parker was Ms. Banks' attorney?"

"He was, your honor," Tea said. "Mr. Parker unfortunately had a conflict that prevented him from continuing with this case. I've been fully briefed on the matters at hand and am prepared to move forward as Ms. Banks' attorney of record."

"Very well. The clerk will please note the change of counsel," Judge Myers instructed. "And with that, we are now on the record in the matter of John McBain vs. Natalie Banks, a petition for custody of the minor child known as Liam Asa McBain. I see that Mr. McBain and counsel are both present. Ms. Delgado, are you expecting Ms. Banks to join us today?"

Tea shook her head. "No, your honor. As her presence is not legally required at this early stage of the proceedings, Ms. Banks felt it was best to remain with her child this afternoon."

The judge frowned but nodded. "In that case, I suggest we get started. I'd like to remind everyone, especially those observers or parties who may not be familiar with the stages of a custody suit, this is only an initial hearing. We're not here today to argue anyone's complete case, and we're not here to make final decisions on custody of the child. We're here to establish the basic requests of the parties and to determine if there is a need for any intermediate or temporary custody orders to be in place while the case proceeds. Are there any questions?"

The courtroom was silent in response.

"Excellent. In that case, I understand that Mr. McBain has…"

"Actually, your honor, if I may…" Tea stood up and waited for the judge to nod before continuing. "Your honor, before the court expends any more of its valuable time, I wish to formally move that the custody claim of John McBain be dismissed without merit and sole legal and physical custody be retained by my client, Natalie Buchanan Banks, without further challenge."

"Your honor, needless to say, my client wholeheartedly opposes counsel's motion," Alexis interjected, standing up to face the judge. "My client is a loving and devoted father who is only asking for the court's due consideration of his legal right to be a part of his child's life. Ms. Delgado's ridiculous motion is entirely without merit, and quite frankly, offensive to both my client and to this court."

"Ms. Delgado, explain yourself, please," Judge Myers said.

"Your honor, John McBain has no legal standing upon which to make any custodial claim for the child in question."

"What the hell are you talking about?" John exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "He's my son! Liam is mine and you know it, Tea! Natalie has no right to keep him away from me!"

"Ms. Davis, I suggest you control your client," the judge instructed impatiently as Alexis pushed John back into his chair and shot him a warning look.

"Your honor, I apologize for the outburst, but Mr. McBain has a point," Alexis said. "Ms. Delgado is grasping at straws. As the child's father, the law is very clear here - my client has every right to ask for custody."

"If her client were the child's legal father, I would agree with Ms. Davis, your honor," Tea said.

"Ms. Delgado, do you know something opposing counsel doesn't?" Judge Myers asked curiously.

"Yes, your honor," Tea said, taking a breath and pointedly looking at the judge and away from John. "John McBain is not the legal father of this child."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **I couldn't leave you with that cliffhanger for too long! Don't worry, I promise I have no intention of going "there" with the paternity, but the question is necessary to move the plot forward. Thanks as always for all of your wonderful reviews and messages!

* * *

"Order! Order in this courtroom!" Judge Myers tapped her gavel several times as shocked shouts and gasps broke out in the courtroom following Tea's statement. "Ms. Delgado, please continue."

"Thank you, your honor," Tea said, twisting her wedding ring around her finger as she faced the judge. "As I'm sure the court is aware, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognizes a minor child's legal father as being the father named on that child's birth certificate, unless and until a later court order recognizes a different father and therefore amends the birth certificate."

The judge turned to Alexis. "Ms. Davis, please tell me you aren't wasting this court's time by filing a custody suit without an established paternity?"

"Of course not, your honor," Alexis said, watching Tea carefully. "It is my understanding that John McBain was named as the child's father on his birth certificate."

"On his _first_ birth certificate," Tea corrected. "Your honor, when the child was four months old, an amended birth certificate was filed with the court listing a Brody Lovett as the child's father. The petition to amend the birth certificate also changed the child's legal name to Liam Asa Lovett, which remains the child's legal name today. The petition to amend the birth certificate was signed not only by my client and by Mr. Lovett, but also by John McBain himself."

"Your honor, that certificate was filed more than a year and a half ago," Alexis pointed out. "At that time, my client had every reason to believe that Brody Lovett was the biological father of Ms. Banks' child. It wasn't until several months later that he discovered that the DNA test which named Mr. Lovett as the father had been tampered with, and that he was in fact the child's father. As soon as he did learn this, he immediately resumed responsibility for the child, and has been in his life ever since."

"Ms. Davis, when exactly did your client learn of the DNA tampering?"

Alexis glanced over at John. "Last November," John said.

"Your honor, there has been no petition to amend the child's birth certificate nor has there ever been a legal acknowledgement of the child's alleged paternity," Tea argued. "Furthermore, the origins of the DNA results alleging that Mr. McBain is the child's father are questionable at best, and the lab which performed the test has a history of mismanagement and results tampering, to the point that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania no longer recognizes it as an accredited testing facility for legally admissible results."

"I understand your point, Ms. Delgado," Judge Myers said. "And although on some level I agree with you, am I incorrect in stating that for the past year, Ms. Banks has, at least publicly, lived as though Mr. McBain were her child's father?"

"Up until approximately two and a half months ago, yes," Tea admitted.

"In that case, I am reluctant to dismiss this case outright," Judge Myers said. "However, until we settle the issue of the child's paternity, I see no way for this case to move forward."

"Your honor, my client would like to at least request a legal order for visitation rights in the interim," Alexis said.

"Ms. Davis, you're new to this court," Judge Myers said. "I don't know how you typically do things over in New York, but here in Pennsylvania, we are not in the habit of handing a child over to someone who hasn't established a legitimate claim to the child in the question. For the present time, this court will consider Mr. McBain's custodial claim to be on hold, pending the results of a paternity test. To that end, Mr. McBain is ordered to present himself for testing at an accredited lab of this court's designation within twenty-four hours. Ms. Delgado, your client is ordered to present the child for the same purposes at the same lab during the same twenty-four hour period. The court clerk will contact both counsel with the name of the selected lab by the close of business today. This court will reconvene one week from today, at which time we will establish legal paternity for the child and I will rule on Ms. Delgado's motion to dismiss. In the meantime, custody of the minor child will remain with the mother. Court is adjourned."

As John watched in disbelief, the judge tapped her gavel once and then rose and quickly exited the courtroom. Turning to Alexis, he stared at her in shock.

"What the hell just happened?"

* * *

The next morning, Natalie leaned against the wall in the bedroom, fiddling with the baseboard to see if she could somehow pry it loose to use as a weapon. It was getting harder and harder to muster up the energy to do much of anything with the small amount of food and water Allison tossed her way every day or two. She figured if she was going to make a move, she'd have to do it soon or she wouldn't have any energy left at all.

Her hands flew away from the wall and into her lap as she heard the chains on the door start to move. Mentally, she ran through them as they were moved. _One. Two. Three. Four._ Then the lock on the door handle itself. It all seemed like a bit of overkill for a prisoner who was kept so malnourished she could barely stand some days.

"Oh good, you're up." Allison tossed a granola bar at Natalie as she walked into the room. "Excellent news. You get to keep custody of your son. For now, anyway."

"What?" Natalie asked in confused.

Allison grinned. "Oh, didn't I mention that? John McBain has sued you for custody of the boy because you got a restraining order and won't let him his son. Good news, though. You have a good lawyer. She told the court John wasn't the father."

"But John is Liam's father."

"Well, now you and I both know that, but the court doesn't," Allison said. "Something about the paperwork not being right. Anyhow, they're going to run a DNA test to be sure. That's where it gets tricky for you."

"Why?"

"Well, according the newspaper, you're supposed to bring the child to a lab to be tested," Allison explained. "And how exactly are you going to do that?"

"I could go," Natalie insisted. "You could bring Liam to me and I could take him to the lab and then come right back. I wouldn't tell anyone what was going on, I swear."

Allison laughed and shook her head. "Oh Natalie. Poor, sweet, innocent…oh no. Hold on. That's Jessica. _You_ are the one who's supposed to know better. After all, you've been here two and a half months. Have you ever heard a baby cry in this house?"

"What did you do with my son?" Natalie asked anxiously. "Where's Liam? Just tell me where he is!"

"And where would be the fun in that?" Allison asked, her trademark smirk gracing her lips. "Don't forget, Natalie, you've sinned and you're being punished. I couldn't very well have the child growing up with a murderer for a mother, now could I? I did the only thing that I could. I put the child out of his misery."

While Allison had been talking, Natalie's hands had flown back to be the baseboard. With a loud cry, she pulled with every ounce of strength that she had and then lunged at Allison with the wood in her hand.

"You bitch!" she screamed, swinging the board at Allison. "Give me my baby!"

Allison ducked and frowned angrily, reaching into the back of her pants and pulling out a gun. When Natalie came at her again, blinded by rage, Allison deftly stepped to one side and raised her arm, bringing the butt of the gun down hard on the back of Natalie's head. As her body crumpled to the ground, Allison crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at her.

"I've been a _very _gracious hostess, Natalie," she said indignantly. "You've stayed in my home. I've fed you. I've given you a warm place to sleep. And this how you repay me? With violence? Well, you won't be the first member of your family to find out that ungrateful brats get don't get treated like guests."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Happy day-before-Thanksgiving! I have family coming to town for the holiday, so I may not have a new update until early next week - so in the meantime, please enjoy this extra-long one!

* * *

That evening Tea sat at her desk, tapping her pen impatiently as she attempted to stare down Clint Buchanan.

"I'm not sure you understand the seriousness of this situation, Clint," she said. "I have to talk to Natalie."

Clint shook his head. "I can't let you do that. You'll have to find another way."

"The only other way involves me standing in a courtroom and lying to the judge," Tea said. "I already stretched the truth almost to the breaking point at the last hearing. The judge has called an emergency hearing tomorrow morning. I have to know where Natalie is so that I can stand in that courtroom and defend the fact that she didn't show up to have Liam tested."

"And I've already told you, I can't tell you where she is," Clint said. "I don't know why she didn't bring Liam in, but I'm sure she had her reasons. If you can't find another way around this, maybe it's time we get a lawyer who can."

"If you don't think I can handle the case, then be my guest," Tea said impatiently. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"Tea, when Natalie left town, she didn't tell anyone where she was going," Clint said. "We didn't even find out she was gone until three days after she left. She doesn't feel safe right now, and quite frankly, I don't blame her. She trusted me to handle things for her when she left, and I won't betray that trust."

"Clint, no one is going to let anyone hurt Natalie if she comes home," Tea assured him. "But I can tell you right now, if I walk into that courtroom tomorrow and can't even tell the judge where Natalie is, let alone when she intends to bring Liam in for testing, there's a good chance Judge Myers is going to take Liam away from her."

"She'd really take a child away from his mother because of that?"

"Natalie's in direct violation of a court order," Tea reminded him. "This isn't a game, Clint."

Clint sighed and nodded. "I was serious when I said I can't give you a location. I don't know where Natalie is."

"But Viki said you were the only one who had been in regular contact with her since she left," Tea said.

"If I tell you something, you can't tell Viki or Jessica, right?"

"Attorney-client privilege would prevent that," Tea agreed. "What's going on, Clint?"

Clint hesitated, thinking again of the last time he'd spoken to his daughter…

_"Dad?"_

_The frightened, anxious voice on the other end of the line sounded so unlike his daughter that Clint almost pulled the phone away from his ear to check the caller ID again._

_"Natalie? What's wrong? Is it Liam?"_

_"No…no, Liam's fine, Dad," Natalie assured him. "I just…Dad, we had to get out of town for a while."_

_"Why?" Clint asked in concern. "What's wrong, Natalie?"_

_"We're okay, Dad," Natalie said. "Please don't tell John where we are."_

_"John? Did he do something?" Clint felt the knot in his stomach growing tighter when Natalie didn't respond. "Natalie, did he hurt you?"_

_"Please don't tell him where we are, Dad," Natalie repeated, her voice cracking as Clint heard her start crying. "Please help us."_

_"Natalie…"_

_"We're okay, Dad, but I probably won't be able to call home much," Natalie said. "It's not safe."_

_"If you're worried about John, I'll…"_

_"No, Dad, it's not that," Natalie insisted. "I just…I need time, okay? Please help?"_

_"What am I supposed to tell your mother? Or your sister?"_

_Natalie hesitated for a moment. "I'll…I can email them from time to time."_

_"You know that won't be enough for your mother," Clint said. "You need to call her so she knows you're okay, Natalie. You know how she is after what happened with Tess and that room."_

_"I…can you cover, Dad?" Natalie asked. "Please help me."_

_Clint sighed. "I could tell her that I'm talking to you," he agreed reluctantly. "But only for a little while, sweetheart. You don't have to worry about John, just come home as soon as you can."_

_"I want to," Natalie said. "I love you Dad."_

"You can't honestly believe that John physically hurt her," Tea said in disbelief as Clint finished recounting the conversation. "I'd believe a lot of things about John McBain, but never that."

"I didn't think so either," Clint said. "But you didn't hear her voice, Tea. She was scared out of her mind when she called me. What was I supposed to do?"

"That's why you got the restraining order," Tea said. "That never made sense until now."

"I needed to be able to tell her that that bastard wasn't going to be able to get anywhere near her," Clint said. "I thought maybe it would help her feel safe enough to come home."

"But it obviously hasn't."

"No," Clint admitted. "The most we hear from her is an email once a week or so."

"So you've been lying to Viki this whole time?"

Clint nodded. "Natalie needed me to. What was I supposed to do?"

"Call the police?"

"Right," Clint said skeptically. "And tell them what? I have no idea where my daughter is, but I'm pretty sure the chief of detectives beat her?"

"Alright, you have a point," Tea conceded. "But wait…Natalie signed that restraining order. If you haven't seen her, how did she do that?"

"Nick Parker," Clint said. "She agreed to see him for legal matters. Actually, she's the one who suggested hiring him. He's not usually on my payroll."

"So Nick knows where Natalie is?"

"I think so," Clint said. "Or at least, he knows how to reach her. All I have is a number in case of emergencies. I think it's one of those burner phones or whatever they call them."

"In that case, we really need to find Nick," Tea said. "And I'll take that phone number, too."

* * *

At quarter past nine the next morning, John sat in the courtroom, staring incredulously at the judge, not quite sure he'd just heard what he thought he had heard.

"Did she really just say that?" he whispered to Alexis. "Natalie didn't show up?"

Alexis nodded and motioned for him to be quiet.

"Ms. Delgado," Judge Myers said impatiently. "Are your client and her child currently in Llanview or not?"

Tea hesitated for a moment, looking extremely uncomfortable as she stood behind the table and faced the judge. "I don't believe they are, your honor," she admitted reluctantly.

"You don't _believe_ they are?" Judge Myers frowned and took off her glasses, setting them down and leaning forward to get a good look at Tea. "Ms. Delgado, do you or do you not know the current location of your client and her son?"

"Not at this time, your honor," Tea conceded. "Ms. Banks has been traveling for some time now, and at times is not able to be immediately reached. I'm confident that if this court could grant an extension of a few days, my client would be able to make arrangements to return to Llanview to have the child tested."

"Not good enough, Ms. Delgado," Judge Myers said. "I issued a court order for your client to present her son for testing. At this time, your client has failed to comply with that order. Being difficult to reach is not excuse, not when she was well aware that this trial was to begin this week. This court officially finds your client to be in contempt of court. The court clerk is hereby instructed to issue a warrant for the arrest of Natalie Banks."

Alexis was nearly smiling as she immediately stood to address the judge. "Your honor, given that there is now a warrant pending for Ms. Banks' arrest, I would raise the question of whether or not it is suitable for her to retain custody of the minor child at this time."

"Given the circumstances of this case, taking into account the fact that the whereabouts of Ms. Banks and the child are currently unknown, there are certainly reasonable doubts regarding Ms. Banks retaining custody," Judge Myers agreed. "Very well, Ms. Davis. Until Ms. Banks can present herself in this courtroom and explain her actions, this court will temporarily revoke her custodial rights to the minor child."

"Your honor, my client would like to request that, given his pre-existing relationship with the child, he be named the child's temporary guardian until such time as this case moves forward as originally planned," Alexis said.

The judge frowned and shook her head. "Ms. Davis, I thought I was very clear the last time you were in my courtroom. I'm sorry, but I will not award custody to someone who has not yet proven a legal claim. Any potential guardian would need to be approved by the Department of Children and Family Services, and given that it's already Friday morning, at this time I am ordering that custody be turned over to DCFS and the child placed in faster care until such time as a suitable guardian can be approved or this case is resolved."

"Your honor, I object!"

Judge Myers frowned at the disturbance from the back of the courtroom. "Who are you?"

"Joey Buchanan. I'm Natalie's brother."

"Mr. Buchanan, you don't have any standing to object in my courtroom," Judge Myers said. "Now please sit down."

"Your honor, you can't put Liam into foster care," Joey said, ignoring the judge's instructions. "He should be with family."

"As I said, Mr. Buchanan, it's never anyone's first choice, but given the circumstances, even if there was a family member willing to take custody, it takes time to get approved by DCFS."

"Give me custody," Joey said.

"Did you not hear what I just said?"

"I've already been approved by DCFS last year," Joey said. "I had custody of another of my nephews for a time."

"Do you live in Llanview, Mr. Buchanan?"

"No, your honor," Joey admitted. "I live in London with my wife and stepson. But I'm more than willing to stay in Llanview as long as Natalie and Liam need me here. My wife understands."

Judge Myers sighed but nodded. "Very well. In that case, pending confirmation with DCFS, this court awards temporary custody to Joe Buchanan. Ms. Delgado, once again I'm giving your client twenty-four hours. I expect her child to be turned over to her brother by this time tomorrow morning."

"Your honor, I'm making every effort to…"

"Ms. Delgado, I don't care if you have to send up smoke signals," Judge Myers interrupted. "I am going to instruct DCFS to have a social worker at Mr. Buchanan's at noon tomorrow. If the child isn't there, you should know that I will not hesitate to amend your client's arrest warrant to include felony kidnapping by a non-custodial parent. Are we clear?"

Tea sighed. "Yes, your honor," she said reluctantly.

"In that case, court is adjourned."

Alexis smiled as she looked over at John as people started filing out of the courtroom. "This is good, John. I know it doesn't seem like it, but today was good for us. As soon as Natalie turns Liam over to her brother, we'll get that DNA test. Once paternity is established, it'll be a slam dunk for you to at least get temporary custody…and Tea Delgado will need to do a hell of a lot of legal wrangling to explain Natalie's behavior in the custody trial."

"This doesn't feel right," John said. "I can't put my finger on it, but this whole thing feels wrong."

"Of course it's wrong," Alexis said. "But I promise you, John, we're going to get custody and make it right."

"Yeah," John muttered as he stood up to follow Alexis out of the courtroom. "I just hope that's all it takes."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday! No rest for the party-weary...on to the next one! Thank you all so much for the big response to the last chapter. It is definitely time to get John on the case! Enjoy!

* * *

John felt like he was about to jump out of his skin as he paced back and forth in his hotel room, his phone pressed to his ear.

"Shouldn't we know something by now?" he asked impatiently. "It's almost noon. If Natalie turned Liam over to Joey, wouldn't she have done it by now?"

"We don't know that she hasn't," Anna pointed out. "And even if she has, you can't just go barging into wherever it is her brother is staying. At the very least, you'd need Joey to invite you over to see your son."

John scoffed. "Yeah, well, that's not going to happen. Joey Buchanan hates my guts."

"Do I want to ask why?"

"Two years ago, when I found out that Natalie had slept with Brody Lovett…well, I didn't take the news very well," John admitted. "Right after I found out, I started sleeping with an old friend of mine."

"So he doesn't like that you moved on so quickly after his sister?"

John hesitated. "More like, he never liked me or thought I was good enough for Natalie, and the fact that the woman I rebounded with happened to be his ex-girlfriend and is now the current Mrs. Joey Buchanan doesn't help matters. Last time I saw him was at Clint and Viki's wedding this summer, and he could barely stand to look at me. I spent the whole night worried he was going to punch me as soon as Natalie turned her back. Trust me, Joey Buchanan is not going to be inviting me to see Liam any time soon."

"In that case, you need to wait for the DNA test to come in. As soon as we have concrete proof of paternity, we'll renew the petition for custody," Anna said.

"And when's that going to be?"

"As soon as Natalie turns Liam over to her brother, he's required to take Liam to the lab for testing."

"She's not going to turn him over," John said.

"You don't know that."

"And you don't know Natalie," John pointed out. "She will _never_ give up Liam. This whole thing…I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner, but there is definitely something else going on here."

"What do you mean?" Anna asked in confusion.

"Natalie is tough. She's fiery and she can hold a grudge and she's stubborn…dear God, the woman is stubborn," John said, almost smiling as he spoke. "But she's also loyal and caring and she'd go to the ends of the earth and back to do what she thinks is right for the people she loves. Natalie was kept from her biological parents for twenty years of her life. She'd never keep Liam away from me."

"Are you sure?"

"I would bet my life on it," John said.

"So what do you think's going on?"

John frowned. "I don't know. I have a gut feeling that something's wrong, but other than that…I've got nothing, Anna. I can't explain it. I don't know if she's gone off the deep end or if she's in trouble or what…I've got no evidence or theories here, just a feeling that something isn't right."

"Then let's do something about it," Anna suggested.

"Like what?"

"You're the investigator, John. Investigate."

* * *

Tea cleared her throat as she stepped into the library at Llanfair to find Clint, Viki, Joey and Jessica waiting by the phone.

"Tea," Viki said in surprise. "We weren't expecting you until this evening. Is there news about the case?"

Tea sighed and nodded. "I'm afraid it's not good, Viki. We've got two very big problems right now."

"Like the fact that Natalie's still not here?" Joey asked.

Tea nodded again. "That's a big part of it, yes," she said. "Judge Myers was not happy when she heard from the social worker that Natalie had missed another deadline. She was quite clear on her warning that if Liam was not here when the social worker arrived at noon, Natalie would be charged with kidnapping, and she's keeping her word."

"That woman can't be serious," Clint fumed.

"She's very serious, actually," Tea said. "Judge Myers is the sort of judge who doesn't take well to her orders not being followed. She's amended the contempt of court arrest warrant to include felony kidnapping. And I'm afraid that it gets worse from there."

"How could it be worse?" Jessica asked.

"She's contacted the FBI's missing children's unit," Tea said. "There's a team on its way to Llanview now. I've got a source down at the courthouse who tells me that they've already called in a search warrant for Natalie's house, and it seems they've also called in a warrant to search Llanfair and all the grounds here. The warrant for Natalie's house has been approved, but the warrant for Llanfair is still pending. My guess is that the cops are already on their way to Natalie's."

"Do they really think they'll find anything?" Viki asked. "And what on earth are they going to look for here?"

"At Natalie's, they'll look for any sign of where she might have been headed when she left with Liam," Tea explained. "Receipts, travel books, that sort of thing. As for here…well, they're looking for any sign that you are or have been harboring her."

"_Harboring_ her? For God's sake, Tea, she's our daughter, not some common criminal!" Clint protested.

"Not in the eyes of the FBI, she's not. To them, she's just another parent who took off with their child," Tea reminded him.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Viki asked.

"The only that can help Natalie now is if she turns herself and Liam in," Tea said. "If they're the ones who find her, it's not going to be good. If she comes in willingly, I've got a better chance of getting the judge to go easy on her. That's why we've got to find her before the cops do."

"And how do we do that?" Joey asked. "We've all tried emailing, you and Dad have left phone messages…"

"Natalie's not responding to the emails we've been sending," Tea said. "Unless there's something you're not telling me, no one here seems to have any clue where she is. At this point, I think the best we can hope for is that she'll see the news coverage - because believe me, a Buchanan going missing with her child is going to be national news - and hope that when she does, she has the sense to call someone."

"Clint, can't you call her?" Viki asked anxiously.

Tea sighed as she exchanged a look with Clint. "The number Clint had for Natalie has been disconnected, Viki," Tea said, knowing she was at least not outrightly lying to her sister-in-law - the number Clint had given her had, in fact, been shut off.

"Then we need to find Nick Parker," Clint said. "He always seemed to be able to find her quickly when we needed her to sign something. I'll make a few calls to some contacts, see if we can't…"

"That's not necessary, Clint," Tea interrupted. "Actually, that's the second big problem I mentioned earlier. Nick Parker is dead."

"What?!" Clint and Viki exclaimed in unison.

"Natalie's old lawyer is dead?" Joey asked incredulously. "How?"

"I don't know the specifics yet," Tea said. "His body was found last night in a dumpster outside an old motel in Hartford, Connecticut. The police down there aren't saying much, but it's pretty obvious that he was murdered. And with Natalie missing…well, I don't have to be in on the specifics of the case to know that when they start looking into Nick's cases to find a motive for the murder, they're going to start asking some hard questions about Natalie."

"This is insane," Jessica said. "There's no way Natalie would have killed Nick. If anything, this should be a sign that she's in trouble."

"I agree," Tea said. "But that doesn't mean the authorities will see it the same way. You all need to be prepared for how bad this is going to get, publicly and privately."

"We've dealt with bad situations before," Viki assured her. "We'll…"

Tea frowned as she looked at the caller ID on her phone. "Excuse me for a moment," she said quickly, turning her back to the others as she pressed the phone to her ear.

"Tea Delgado." She paused, her frown deepening as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line. "Are you sure?" Tea sighed and nodded. "Alright, I'll be right there."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Thanks for your patience with this chapter! I'm still not 100% happy with how it came out - I even thought about cutting parts of it - but it's all important for the storyline, so I'm posting it as is. I'm _much_ happier with the next one, so I anticipate that one will be up pretty quickly in the next few days. In the meantime, enjoy!

* * *

Tea looked over her shoulder before quickly ducking under the crime scene tape blocking off the yard in front of John and Natalie's house. She was nearly to the front door when a voice from behind startled her.

"You made good time."

Turning around, she nodded when she caught sight of the officer approaching her. "Officer Fish. You should know better than to sneak up on a lady like that."

"Yeah, well, when that lady's about to sneak into a crime scene, I think it's only fair," he pointed out. "I'm surprised you got here so fast."

"You called and told me that there was a forensic team at my client's house," Tea said. "That sort of thing tends to pique my interest. So what's going on?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Oliver admitted. "The FBI's mostly running this thing. They act like we're just here to do their grunt work."

Tea smiled sympathetically. "That's the feds for you," she said. "Do you at least know why they called a forensic team?"

"Yeah," Oliver said hesitantly.

"Well are you going to tell me?"

"They found blood in the nursery," Oliver said. "A _lot_ of blood."

"How much is a lot?"

"I don't know. I haven't been in to see it."

"Are the feds still here?" Tea asked, glancing around. "Can I go in?"

"Most of them have moved on," Oliver said. "The warrant for Llanfair just came through, so they're headed there next. I guess as long as you're careful and you don't touch anything, it couldn't hurt to have a look around. Just don't tell anyone I let you in…or that I called you in the first place."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Fish," Tea said, smiling as she clapped him on the shoulder before turning to head into the house.

* * *

Tea felt sick as she stood in the doorway of Liam's nursery and looked around at the mess. Something had clearly happened here, and it didn't look good. Fish hadn't been kidding about the blood - dried in a pool near the window, splattered on the wall - there was a _lot_ of blood. Too much to chalk up to just an accident. She didn't know whose it was, but she'd seen enough crime scenes through the years to know that with this much blood, the FBI was going to be looking at a homicide investigation. She just prayed it wasn't Liam's - defending Natalie against kidnapping charges was proving to be difficult enough. The last thing she wanted to add to the list was a homicide charge.

"It's like something out of a nightmare, isn't it?"

Tea whirled around. "Commissioner. I was just…"

Bo shook his head and held up a hand. "I wasn't going to ask, Tea. Honestly, right now you standing in the middle of this crime scene is the least of my problems."

"I was just here a few months ago," Tea said, turning back to the nursery. "Natalie, she, uh, she had Dani over for dinner before she left for school. I came by to pick her up and Victor needed changing. I, uh, I used that changing table…" Tea's voice cracked as she pointed to the table that appeared to have been slammed into the wall. "It looks like a war took place here. How did this happen, Bo?"

"I don't know," Bo admitted. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around how I'm supposed to tell my brother that his daughter's blood is splattered all over her son's nursery."

"They know it's Natalie's?" Tea asked. "That was fast. They must have some crazy forensics at the FBI."

Bo shook his head. "They don't know for sure. It's Natalie's blood type, but DNA will take a little longer. But who else's blood would it be?"

Tea hesitated for a moment. "Well…I hate to even suggest it…"

Bo nodded. "I thought the same thing at first, but Liam's blood type is different than Natalie's. It's not his blood."

Tea let out a small sigh of relief. "Well, that's something, at least. Did they find any information at all that might help them find Liam and Natalie?"

"I honestly don't know," Bo admitted. "They haven't let me in on much."

"Can't you…" Tea paused and frowned at the sound of shouting coming from the front of the house. "Is that…?"

"Damn it," Bo muttered, shaking his head as he recognized the voice and turned around. "This is about to get ugly."

* * *

John was fairly certain that he was about to strangle Oliver Fish. "Damn it, Fish, this is _my_ house!" he shouted, trying again to push back his coworker and get through the front door. "I have every right to go inside!"

"John, you can't…"

"Don't make me pull rank here, Fish," John snapped.

"Cool it, John," Bo warned as he walked into the living room. "He's only doing his job."

"It's his job to keep me out of my house?" John asked. "What the hell is going on here, Bo?"

"Funny, I was going to ask you that same question," Bo said.

Tea frowned and glanced back and forth between the two men, a bit taken aback by the anger in Bo's tone toward someone she had thought was his friend. It was obvious to her that Bo Buchanan knew something that had changed his opinion of John - the question in Tea's mind now was what that was.

"I just got here, I don't know anything," John insisted. "All I know is I came home to see if I could find anything that would help us find Natalie and Liam, and when I got here, the place was crawling with cops. What's going on? Someone has to tell me! Tea?"

Tea hesitated for a moment, letting out a breath of relief when a stern looking woman in a business suit came into the room and interrupted them.

"Is this him?" she asked, looking over at Bo.

Bo nodded. "Agent Cooper, this is John McBain. John, Special Agent Natasha Cooper, FBI."

"I don't care if it's the FBI or the LPD or the damn CIA, if you're searching my house, I have a right to be present," John pointed out.

"Mr. McBain, my colleagues and I have a few questions we need to ask you," Agent Cooper said, completely ignoring John's anger. "Officer Fish, would you please escort Mr. McBain down to the station?"

"I'm not going anywhere with anyone until I find out what's going on here," John insisted.

"Mr. McBain, that wasn't a suggestion," Agent Cooper said. "Now, you can come willingly or you can come in handcuffs. I don't particularly care which you choose."

"You'd better have charges to back up those handcuffs, Agent."

John turned his head as Alexis appeared behind him. "What are you doing here?" he asked in confusion.

"Anna called. Said you might need some help," Alexis said. "Now, about those charges…"

"Mr. McBain isn't being charged with anything…yet," Agent Cooper said. "We simply want to ask him a few questions about the disappearance of his girlfriend."

"You mean when she kidnapped Detective McBain's son," Alexis pointed out. "We'd all like some answers on that situation."

Agent Cooper shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant. Now, your client will be coming down to the station to answer my questions. Don't make me arrest him, because I will."

"Detective McBain will cooperate fully," Alexis assured her. "But he will not be escorted to his own workplace in a police car. That's highly unnecessary. Detective McBain will drive to the station with me."

Agent Cooper hesitated for a moment but nodded. "Very well. You have ten minutes to get there, Mr. McBain, or I will send a unit out to arrest you. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Alexis said, grabbing John by the elbow and steering him away from the house before he could protest.

"Officer Fish, follow them," Agent Cooper instructed quietly. "If they go one block off course, pull them over and arrest McBain."

"Um…" Fish hesitated as he looked to Bo for guidance.

"You'd better do it, Fish," Bo said reluctantly. "John's on the other side for now."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Thank you so much for the positive response to the last chapter! Sometimes, I know I'm my own harshest critic...regardless, I am much happier with this chapter! I know there are still a lot of questions about why all of this is happening, and I think some of that will be answered in the next chapter. In the meantime, I hope that you all enjoy this one!

* * *

"You need to breathe, John," Alexis instructed as he paced back and forth behind the metal table in the LPD's interrogation room. "Just try to relax."

"Relax? You want me to relax?" John asked incredulously, pausing his pacing for just a moment. "Natalie and Liam are missing, the FBI is turning my house inside out, and no one will tell me what the hell is going on! How exactly am I supposed to relax, Alexis?"

Alexis sighed and nodded. "Just don't lose your temper, John. The last thing we need right now is for you to go pissing off a federal agent while we're trying to get custody of your son."

"I think pissing me off is the least of your client's concerns right now, Ms. Davis," Agent Cooper said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. "I'd be focused on how your client is going to win a custody suit when the judge finds out that he's a suspect in a homicide investigation."

John stopped pacing and stared at the woman in shock. "A what?"

"Sit down, Mr. McBain," Agent Cooper instructed, pulling out a chair and taking a seat, setting a thick file folder on the table in front of her.

John hesitated, but finally took a seat next to Alexis and stared across the table at Agent Cooper.

"Good," Agent Cooper said, flipping open a notepad and pulling a pen out of her jacket. "Now, let's talk about your relationship with Natalie Banks."

"What exactly is going on here, Agent Cooper?" Alexis asked. "Why is my client here?"

"I'll be the one asking questions here, Ms. Davis. Now, John…may I call you John?" Agent Cooper didn't pause to wait for a response. "How would you characterize your relationship with Natalie Banks?"

John frowned. "She's my girlfriend."

"I see. And you two share a child together?"

"A son. Liam."

"And where is your son now?" Agent Cooper asked.

"Agent Cooper, you know as well as any of us that John doesn't know where Liam is," Alexis interrupted. "That's the reason you're here, to find him."

"That _was_ the reason," Agent Cooper agreed. "But circumstances have changed."

"How?" John asked impatiently. "What's changed?"

"When was the last time you saw your girlfriend, John?"

"I don't understand what…"

"Answer the question," Agent Cooper interrupted.

"The last weekend in July," John said. "I came home for a few days to spend some time with Natalie and Liam before I went back to Port Charles."

"What exactly were you doing in Port Charles?"

John hesitated. "Taking care of a personal matter."

"And your girlfriend was alright with you spending so much time away from home?" Agent Cooper asked. "Away from her? Away from your son?"

"She wasn't happy about it, no," John said. "But Natalie understood why I had to do what I was doing."

"Did you ever fight about it?"

"Of course we fought," John said. "Every couple fights from time to time."

"And these fights…did any of them ever turn physical?"

John's jaw dropped slightly at her implication as Alexis placed her hand on his forearm.

"Don't answer that, John," she instructed. "Agent Cooper, despite anything they may have been through, my client cares for Ms. Banks very much. She's the mother of his child."

"And none of that answers my question," Agent Cooper said, reaching into the file folder on the table and pulling out a photograph before sliding it across the table. "But then again, I don't really need him to answer it. This tells me everything I need to know."

John felt like someone had sucker punched him in the gut as he picked up the image of Natalie lying on what appeared to be a hospital bed, her head turned to the side to give the camera a better angle of the cuts and bruises on her face.

"Good God," he muttered. "Where is she? Who did this to her?"

"Turn it over," Agent Cooper instructed.

John did as he was told and felt his heart sink at the sight of Natalie's familiar handwriting.

_Uncle Bo,_

_This is why I had to leave so quickly. This is why I had to get away from him._

_I love him, but it's only getting worse. I need help. I'm not safe yet._

_Please hold on to this in case anything happens to me._

_Love,_

_Natalie_

"You can't possibly think that…"

"That you did that to your girlfriend?" Agent Cooper asked, taking the photograph out of John's hand and returning it to the file folder. "That's exactly what I think, John. But I don't think you stopped there."

"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked in confusion.

"I don't think you just beat up your girlfriend," Agent Cooper said. "I think you killed her."

* * *

"Mommy! Mommy!"

Jessica hurried into the library with Ryder in her arms as Bree continued to call out for her.

"What is it sweetheart?" she asked quickly, setting her son down in front of the couch and turning to her daughter. "What's wrong?"

Bree pointed at the television set. "Aunt Natalie's on the TV!"

Jessica gasped as she looked at the newscast and saw her sister's picture staring back at her, the headline scrolling across the screen seeming to taunt her as it sat there. _Boyfriend Prime Suspect In Heiress' Murder._

"Mommy, is Aunt Natalie dead?" Bree asked in confusion.

Jessica shook her head and sighed as she grabbed the remote and flipped off the television. "I don't know sweetie," she admitted. "Right now, everyone is trying to find Aunt Natalie and Liam because we don't know where they are."

"Like last year when Brody took Liam?" Bree asked as Jessica picked her up and placed her next to her on the couch.

Jessica nodded and smiled weakly. "Yeah, something like that," she said. "Except last year, we knew who had taken Liam, and we knew that even though Brody was upset and sad, he would never hurt Liam. Right now, we don't know what happened to Aunt Natalie or to Liam, so we don't know who took them."

"The lady on the TV said John did it," Bree said.

"The lady on the TV is guessing," Jessica assured her. "We don't know who took Natalie, all we know is that Natalie would never leave us or Liam if she had a choice, right?"

Bree nodded. "Aunt Natalie promised we'd all go get a Christmas tree together this year," she said. "She missed Thanksgiving. Is she going to miss Christmas too, Mommy?"

"I don't know, baby," Jessica admitted, pulling Bree close. "I don't know."

* * *

"This doesn't make any sense," Viki said, shaking her head as she sat at the kitchen table with Clint, Bo and Tea later that evening. "I could believe a lot of things of John, even that he would lose his temper and try to take Liam away from Natalie - but to kill her? No, I don't believe it."

"How can they even know that a murder took place?" Clint asked, holding on to Viki's hand like a lifeline. "Natalie's strong. She's a fighter. If they haven't found a body…"

"The amount of blood," Bo said quietly. "Based on what they found, whatever happened to her, you can't lose that much blood and survive."

"Oh God," Viki gasped, shaking her head as the tears rolled down her cheeks. "This is impossible. Our baby…"

"It's not possible," Jessica said, walking into the kitchen. "Natalie sent me an email a week ago. Dead people don't send emails."

"It seems that someone has gone to a lot of trouble to keep anyone from looking for Natalie," Tea said. "If you didn't think she was in trouble, what reason would you have to look? Email's a very easy way to do that. There's no handwriting, no voice to fake, just typing from behind a computer screen. Anyone could have sent those emails."

"I don't believe that," Jessica said. "There were things in them, things only Natalie would know."

"Are you sure?" Bo asked.

"I know my sister, Uncle Bo," Jessica snapped. "She's not dead."

"When was the last email?" Tea asked gently.

"A week, maybe a week and a half ago," Jessica said. "Why?"

"The blood they found isn't old, Jessica," Bo said. "They don't think it's been there in the house more than a week."

"You mean…Natalie came home?" Viki asked. "Why wouldn't she call? Clint, did you know about her coming?"

Clint shook his head. "I had no idea."

"What about Liam?" Jessica asked. "Bree keeps asking if her cousin is safe. What am I supposed to tell my daughter?"

Bo sighed. "I don't know, Jessie," he admitted. "There was no sign of Liam in the nursery. We have no way of knowing if he came back to Llanview with Natalie or where he is right now. The best we can hope for right now is that Natalie left him with someplace safe before she came home. Or, if she did bring him, that whoever hurt her has him and is keeping him safe somewhere."

"My poor Natalie," Viki said tearfully. "Why is it always Natalie? Hasn't she been through enough?"

* * *

Natalie moaned in pain as she opened her eyes. Every muscle in her body ached, and she imagined this must be what it felt like to get run over by a truck. Slowly, she reached her hand up to her throbbing head, feeling a makeshift bandage wrapped over what felt like a deep cut on her forehead. She frowned as she wondered where it came from - Alison certainly wouldn't have bothered wrapping her head after she'd been the one to injure it in the first place.

Looking around, Natalie tried to get a handle on her new surroundings. It was dark, with the only light coming from a small lightbulb hanging on a chain near the bottom of a rickety staircase. The room - she assumed it was a basement or cellar of some sort - was cold, with a hit of dampness in the air. She was lying on two wooden benches pushed side by side, and as uncomfortable as it was, she supposed it was better than the cold concrete floor that would be the alternative.

Hearing a noise in the corner, Natalie turned her head, squinting to see a man seated on the floor, leaning against the wall and staring at her.

"Oh good, you're not dead," he said when he caught Natalie look at him. "You had me worried there for a while, you know. It would have been awful if you'd died down here. Dead bodies can really stink up a place."

Natalie's mouth hung open in shock as she stared at him for several long minutes, trying to determine if her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Uncle Victor?"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **I apologize for any spelling errors this chapter might have - I finished it on the airplane this morning and haven't had a chance to do more than a quick proofread, but I wanted to get it out for all of you today! This one ended up a little longer than usual, but obviously we had a lot to cover. Enjoy!

* * *

Natalie shook her head as she slowly sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bench, not taking her eyes off the man sitting against the wall across the room.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" she asked in disbelief. "Alison killed me and I've gone to some sort of personal circle of hell."

"I think I should be offended by that," Victor said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Here I rip up my only extra shirt to stop you from bleeding to death, I clean up your wounds, I give you the good bench so you won't get hypothermia…and that's the thanks I get?"

"You died," Natalie pointed out. "Todd shot you, and you died."

"Yeah, well, I guess my brother's not quite as good a shot as he thought he was," Victor said. "Because I'm not dead."

"But I saw the crime scene," Natalie insisted. "I read the coroner's report. I testified against Todd at his murder trial! I don't understand how you could have faked that! And how the hell could you do that to Tea and the kids?"

"You think I did this on purpose?" Victor asked incredulously, shifting slightly and holding up his leg so that Natalie could clearly see the shackle on his ankle that tethered him to a pipe on the wall. "You think I'd do this to myself? I'm a victim here, just like you."

"But how? Why?"

Victor shrugged. "I don't understand all of it…or even really remember some parts. But I remember Todd shooting me, and then I remember one of the paramedics giving me a shot of something that made me feel really odd. And then the next thing I know, I'm lying in the morgue."

"There are some neurotoxins that will mask vital signs," Natalie said. "It might be enough to convince a bystander that you were dead…but they wouldn't mask them to the point that a trained medical professional wouldn't be able to tell you were alive. Those paramedics should have known you weren't dead."

"Did you miss the part where they were the ones who gave me the shot?" Victor asked. "I'm guessing whoever paid off the coroner paid them off too."

"What do you mean, paid off the coroner?"

"A few weeks after I was shot, I was still being kept upstairs and I heard someone on a phone ordering a pretty big wire transfer to the medical examiner," Victor explained. "I'm guessing that's how you ended up with an autopsy report when there wasn't any dead body to examine."

"You're really not dead," Natalie said, a hint of disbelief still in her voice as he stood up and walked over to the bench.

"Afraid not," Victor said with a grin, holding out his arm to her. "Go ahead, pinch me if you think it'll help."

Natalie shook her head as she tried to stand up, letting out a small cry of surprise as her legs started to give out the second she put her weight on them.

"Easy there," Victor cautioned, quickly grabbing her around the waist and helping her back onto the bench. "You've been out cold for almost two days now, and judging by those needle marks on your arms, God only knows what Looney Tunes was doing to you before she dumped you down here with me. Might take you a while to get your sea legs back."

"You're really here," Natalie said softly, staring at Victor as she finally started to accept that her dead uncle wasn't quite so dead after all.

"That's right, I'm not dead," Victor agreed, letting Natalie continue to stare in silence for a moment. "Okay, the staring thing is kind of creepy, Natalie. Aren't you going to say something?"

Natalie hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath before raising her hand and smacking him hard across the face.

"What the hell?!" Victor exclaimed, bringing his hand to his cheek. "What was that for? What did I ever do to you?"

"That was for not telling me that Marty had switched Liam's paternity results," Natalie said angrily. "You let me go on for months and months believing that Brody Lovett was my son's father."

"Hey, it wasn't just me. Lovett knew too," Victor pointed out.

"And believe me, when I found that out, I let him have it," Natalie assured him. "Only by that time, you were dead, and there's not much point in yelling at a dead man, now is there? Although…"

"What?"

"Well, it just occurred to me that if you hadn't died, I probably still wouldn't know the truth, would I?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if we hadn't thought you were dead, Tina wouldn't have come back for the reading of your will," Natalie said. "And if she hadn't come back, her stupid dog never would have found the real DNA test in your things at your house and run off with it in her mouth. And if that hadn't happened, no one except Marty and Brody ever would have known that Liam was John's son. Marty's off somewhere with Patrick and probably never going to show her face in Llanview again and you…well, you never would have told me the truth."

"I might have," Victor protested.

"We are locked in a basement, God-knows-where, with very little chance of escaping. Are you seriously going to waste time lying to me?" Natalie asked incredulously.

"Okay, fine," Victor conceded. "No, I was never going to tell you."

"How could you do that to me?" Natalie asked. "I mean, I know I was never your favorite of your nieces or nephews, but come on…keeping that kind of a secret? How could you let my son go through life not knowing who his father was?"

"Well, for one thing, I can't stand McPain. You know that," Victor said. "Besides, I like leverage, and knowing Lovett's secret gave me serious leverage over a cop. That can be a pretty useful thing to have when you tend to get in trouble as often as I do."

"Those are terrible reasons."

"Probably," Victor agreed. "But hey, you know the truth now, so I assume you and McPain have ridden off into the sunset and were living happily ever after before Looney Tunes nabbed you?"

"Not exactly," Natalie admitted. "Things are…difficult."

"I'm sorry about that."

"No you're not. You hate John."

"Well, yeah, I kind of do," Victor acknowledged. "But you're the first person I've had a real conversation with in over a year, so I don't want to piss you off. Can we maybe just move past the whole hating your boyfriend, hiding the paternity thing?"

Natalie hesitated for a moment. "Fine," she agreed reluctantly, shaking the hand that Victor extended to her. "But only because I'm going to need your help coming up with a plan to get out of this hell hole."

Victor frowned. "Um, did you forget about this?" he asked, holding up his ankle.

Natalie shook her head, reaching over and pulling a loose nail out of one side of the bench. "Give me your ankle."

"No," Victor said, recoiling slightly. "If you think you're going to use some rusty nail to saw off my foot, you're crazier than Jessica in full-blown Tess mode."

"Oh, for God's sake," Natalie groaned. "Just put your damn ankle up here, Victor, I'm not going to hurt you."

Victor hesitated but finally lifted his leg so that his ankle was resting on the bench. Turning slightly to get better leverage, Natalie squinted as she bent over and inserted the nail into the lock, moving it around a few times until the shackle suddenly sprung open.

"Better?" she asked, a triumphant smirk on her face.

"What the…how…what…how did you do that?" Victor asked in shock.

Natalie shrugged. "I'm from Atlantic City, remember? Lock-picking is on the standard kindergarten curriculum. Now, let's talk about how we're getting out of here."

* * *

Bo glanced up at the sound of a sharp knock on his door. He'd only intended to swing by the office for a few minutes to pick up some paperwork on his way home from Llanfair, but as usual, he'd gotten caught up in things the second he'd walked through the door. No one seemed to be able to focus on anything except the fact that the FBI was currently using their interrogation room to question John McBain in a possible homicide and child abduction. As much as Bo could understand the distraction, he'd had to spend quite a bit of time reminding his officers that the city of Llanview did have other things it was paying them to do.

Now, he found himself seated at his desk as the one man he'd hoped to avoid stepped into his office.

"John," he said abruptly, standing up from his seat. "I'm afraid now's not a good time. I was just on my way out."

"This won't take long," John assured him. "I just spent the last five hours being questioned by Agent Cooper."

"I know."

"I didn't kill her, Bo," John insisted.

"I'd like to believe that," Bo said.

John sighed. "But you don't," he said knowingly.

"There was no forced entry at the house," Bo said. "No fingerprints except for yours, Liam's and Natalie's. And with what Natalie told me when she first left town…"

"That's bullshit," John interrupted. "I would _never_ lay a hand on Natalie. Not a single hand, Bo. You _know_ me. You know I would never do that to her."

"I know my niece as well, John," Bo said. "And I know that she would never lie to me about something like that. I also know what I saw in that picture, and I know that someone hurt her. From what she said, that someone was you."

"I saw the picture," John said. "And I saw the note, too. I don't know how to explain that, but I didn't do that to her, Bo. I could never do that to Natalie. I love her."

"You've got a hell of a way of showing it, running off and spending months in Port Charles, doing God-knows-what with God-knows-who, all while Natalie's here trying to raise _your_ son all on her own."

"Natalie understood what I was doing," John insisted. "I know it was hard for her, but she knew it was something I had to do. And even if she didn't…there is nothing that would have ever led me to lay a hand on her, or Liam. Those two are my life, Bo. She's out there somewhere, and we've got to find her!"

"What you've got to do is leave this office before I have you arrested for trespassing," Bo said. "Unless Agent Cooper has had you arrested for something more serious?"

"No. She just told me not to leave town," John said.

"Then I'd suggest you take that advice," Bo said. "Just stay away from my police station unless you're being questioned, and stay the hell away from my brother and his family."

"Have they found Liam? Is he with Joey?"

Bo sighed and shook his head. "No."

John hesitated for a moment. "You need my help, Bo. You need my help to find them, so don't send me away."

"John, I've given you a lot of leeway over the past few months - paid leave, unpaid leave, sick days - and I haven't pushed you on when you were coming back," Bo pointed out. "But I'm sorry, enough is enough. You're being investigated for murder, John. My niece's _murder_. You don't have a right to be here right now, John. I'm placing you on unpaid administrative leave."

"You're suspending me?" John asked in shock.

"What did you expect me to do?" Bo asked angrily. "Open up my arms and welcome you back? Completely ignore what my niece told me? Pretend there isn't a pool of her blood in your house and no sign of my grand-nephew? John, right now you're pretty much persona non grata in this town, so I suggest you walk out of here right now and go back to your hotel before someone does something drastic."


	10. Chapter 10

"So," Victor said, standing up and stretching his shackle-free ankle. "What exactly do you propose that we do now?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Get the hell out of here, obviously."

"Right." Victor cast a skeptical look at his niece. "You don't even have the strength to stand up right now."

"I can…"

"No, you can't," Victor pointed out. "And if you think I'm slinging you over my shoulder and carrying you out of here…um, no. Not happening."

"We have to get home," Natalie insisted. "We have to get out of here, no matter what we're going home to."

"And we will, as soon as whatever Looney Tunes did is out of your system and you can get out of here on your own two feet," Victor said, pausing as he thought about Natalie's words. "And what do you mean, no matter what we're going home to? What do you know?"

"Nothing that affects you."

Victor sighed. "Natalie, Looney Tunes only comes by about once a week and just to drop off food and tell me she's still waiting for the Messenger to tell her why he took me. Says she can't do anything with me until he explains it. All of which is to say, you're the first person I've actually spoken to in…how long have I been dead?"

"It was about a year when Alison took me," Natalie said. "I think it's been maybe two or three months since then."

"Then you're the first person I've been able to actually talk to in over a year," Victor said. "So the least you could do is actually talk."

"Alright, fine," Natalie conceded. "Alison had me write a letter to John, telling him that I'd met someone else and he should stay away."

"So McPain thinks you left him? Ouch."

"I keep hoping that at least he has Liam, but I just don't think so," Natalie said, her eyes filling with tears.

"What do you mean? Where else would the kid be?"

"I don't know," Natalie said. "A few months ago, Alison showed up at my house. I tried to close the door on her, but she forced her way in. I don't really remember what happened, but I think she must have hit me or drugged me or something. The next thing I knew, I was in a room, tied to a chair and Liam was in a portable crib across the room. Alison came in and she picked him up and said everything was all arranged, then she just walked out of the room with him and…and…"

"And that was the last time you saw him?" Victor asked knowingly.

Natalie nodded. "At first, when she was trying to get me to do something, she'd tell me if I did, I could see him, but then she'd never bring him. Eventually she just stopped even suggesting it. I…I want to believe he's safe, but Alison's crazy. What if she killed my baby? Oh God, if Liam's dead…I don't even know if I want to go on if she killed him."

Victor sighed and nodded silently.

"What? No smart ass comment?"

"Not to that," Victor said. "I've been through enough in the past year and a half to know that you should never have to lose a kid. It's not supposed to be that way. My kids…well, I guess _kid_ now…"

"No, actually, _kids_ is right," Natalie said.

"It's been over a year, Natalie, I think I'm finally starting to accept that Starr and Dani and Jack aren't mine," Victor said.

"Maybe not, but Dani and Jack still don't accept Todd as their father. When they say Dad, they're still talking about you," Natalie said. "But, um, that wasn't what I was referring to. I probably shouldn't say anything, Tea might want to tell you herself when you we get back, but…"

"Again with the hesitating thing," Victor said in annoyance. "Out with it, Natalie."

"Tea was pregnant when you died," Natalie said. "She didn't find out until a few weeks after your funeral."

Victor stared at Natalie almost as if she'd sprouted another head. "Are you saying I have another kid out there?"

Natalie nodded. "Victor Lord III."

"A son?" Victor asked in disbelief. "I have a son with Tea?"

"Yeah, you do. He's pretty cute, too, even considering who his father is."

Victor shook his head. "You know, right now I'm in too much shock to even have a comeback for that. I can't believe Tea and I have a son."

"When Tea first brought him home, she got Sam this 'I'm a big brother' shirt, and Blair had to go buy him two more because he wouldn't go out of the house without one," Natalie recalled with a laugh. "He didn't seem to understand that they had to be washed at some point."

"A son," Victor repeated, a half-smile on his lips. "Damn it, Natalie, whatever Looney Tunes did to you, you better recover fast and help me find a way out of here…I've got a kid to go home and meet."

* * *

Olivia Harrison shivered in the Colorado snow as she grabbed the sack of groceries out the back of her minivan and slammed the trunk shut before practically running for the warmth of her house. Shaking off the snow as she stepped inside and set the bag in the kitchen, she couldn't help her smile as she peered around the corner into the living room.

She'd been expecting to find her husband and a few of his buddies noisily watching the football game as they did most Sunday nights. Instead, the sight that she found warmed her heart. Her husband was fast asleep on the couch, his legs propped up over one end of the couch, while their new little son lay curled up on his chest. Quietly tip-toeing into the room, Olivia slipped the remote out of her husband's hand, turning off the television before reaching for the blanket on the back of the couch and tucking it around her two sleeping boys.

It was moments like this that she still couldn't believe this was all really happening. It had been almost three months since the day she'd received that life-changing call from the adoption agency. They'd been waiting for years, and she'd nearly given up home when that call finally came in. The adoption counselor had been almost apologetic - it wasn't a newborn they'd found for her, this child was a toddler instead. It hadn't mattered to Olivia or to her husband, James. They'd just been thrilled to bring a child home after so many years of waiting.

If only she could shake the feeling that she was going to wake up and find that this had all been a dream. Nearly three months had passed since the day they'd brought him home. The nursery was set up with everything a boy could want. The social worker had visited twice and filed glowing reports on their home. The paperwork was all complete and in perfect order with the courts. And yet, for some reason, Olivia couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something to come along and ruin her perfect family.

Shaking her head as she stepped back into the kitchen, Olivia flipped on the tiny television and pulled open the dishwasher to unload the dishes just as the evening news came on…

_We begin tonight with continued coverage of the shocking disappearance of Buchanan heiress Natalie Banks and her son, who were last seen by Ms. Banks' sister some three and a half months ago. Tonight, we are hearing from multiple sources that the FBI and local police are now treating this as a possible homicide investigation, although thus far no announcement has been made of a body being found. One source within the FBI informs us that Ms. Banks' estranged boyfriend and the father of her son, a member of the Llanview police department and a former FBI agent, is considered a prime suspect in the case._

_Meanwhile, the search continues for Ms. Banks' missing son, who is not believed to have been killed with his mother. The Buchanan family tonight released a statement, asking for privacy as the await word on the safety of Natalie Banks and Liam, and also offering a reward of one million dollars for anyone who can provide information leading to the safe return of either Liam or Natalie. We're showing you on screen right now pictures of both Natalie Banks and Liam McBain. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of either one, please contact your local police department or the FBI…_

As she looked up and saw the picture on her television, the glass she'd been unloading slipped from Olivia's hand and shattered as hit the floor unnoticed. Pressing both hands to her mouth, she shook her head in disbelief as tears filled her eyes. "Oh God, no," she whispered. "Oh my God."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Happy almost new year, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Let's all keep our fingers crossed that this year, we all get the present of OLTL coming back!

Before the chapter starts, I wanted to clarify something that might have been a little confusing from the last chapter. The whole Tea/Sam baby switch _did_ happen in this story, and the baby is back in Port Charles with Sam..._but_, because Natalie disappeared in mid-August, and the baby reveal didn't happen until October, she has no idea that Victor and Tea's baby is actually dead and that the baby everyone knew as Victor Lord III was really Sam's baby, which is why she told Victor he had a son waiting for him in Llanview. Hope that clears things up!

* * *

Three weeks later, Olivia fought back her tears as she sat next to her husband in the first class section of an airplane, holding her son close to her chest as the plane touched down in Pennsylvania. When she'd first seen that picture on the news, her instinct had been to run - just pack her bags and go to Mexico…anyplace far enough away that even the powerful Buchanan family couldn't find them. After all, they obviously didn't even know that she was someone they _should_ look for. What was to stop her from getting away with her son?

Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she'd looked back at the television, where Viki Buchanan was sitting on a couch, begging for her daughter and grandson to come home. She knew no matter how far she ran, she couldn't outrun the look in that woman's eyes. Her son had a family, and she wasn't a part of it.

Even with the decision made, it had taken her a week to work up the courage to tell her husband that Frankie wasn't theirs after all. And while they'd waited for the authorities to run DNA tests and sort out the paperwork and dot all the I's and cross all the t's, they had savored every second with the little boy they'd loved from the moment they'd laid eyes on him.

"It's time."

Olivia nodded and took a breath as the two FBI agents who'd escorted them from Colorado stood up and waited beside her seat. "Come on, sweetheart," she whispered. "It's time for you to go home."

* * *

Bo hesitated as he reached out and knocked on the front door of Llanfair. Although he loved Viki, and was once again learning to get along with Clint, at that moment he would have rather been pretty much anywhere else in the world. Even when things had been at their worst with Clint, this was a visit that would have made him sick to his stomach. At the same time, though, he knew there was no way he could have ever let anyone else deliver this news.

"Bo," Viki said, smiling wearily as she pulled open the front door. "What a pleasant surprise, we weren't expecting you today. Won't you come in?"

Bo nodded as he stepped into the entryway.

"Clint's in the library," Viki said knowingly, motioning for Bo to follow her into that room. "We just finished putting up the Christmas tree. Bree wanted it all done when Joey and Jessica come home with Liam tonight."

"Officer Fish is at the airport waiting for the Harrisons," Bo said. "The plane should be landing any minute. There'll be some paperwork to finish up at the station, but Joey should have custody within an hour or two."

"I still don't understand how my grandson ended up in Colorado," Clint said, standing up as Bo walked into the room.

"That's one thing we intend to find out," Bo assured him before turning to his sister-in-law. "Viki, I think you ought to sit down."

Viki's smile immediately fell. "What's going on?" she asked anxiously, stepping around a box of ornaments and grabbing Clint's hand.

"Bo?" Clint asked nervously.

"You really need to sit down," Bo insisted. "Both of you."

Clint and Viki exchanged a look of concern but complied, taking a seat on the couch while they waited for Bo to take the chair across from them.

"What's going on?" Clint asked again, holding tightly to Viki's hand.

"About an hour ago, Judge Sanderson signed a warrant for John McBain's arrest," Bo said.

"Do you think he had something to do with Liam ending up with that couple?" Viki asked confusion. "What are they charging him with? Kidnapping?"

Bo shook his head. "The timing doesn't add up," he said. "John was verifiably in Port Charles when Liam was adopted by the Harrisons."

"Then how did he end up there?" Viki asked.

Bo sighed. "The only thing we know is that the adoption agency was under the impression that Liam's parents had been killed a car accident. The woman who brought Liam to them claimed to be his mother's aunt, and the only family. She had all the right paperwork - birth certificate, death certificates for the parents, all of it. Every indication is that the agency did all the right due diligence before placing Liam with the Harrisons, but whoever arranged for all of this covered their tracks well," Bo said. "You should also know that the FBI's current theory is that Natalie is the one who set the adoption in motion."

"Natalie wouldn't do that," Viki insisted. "She would never give up Liam."

"I agree with you," Bo said. "But I'm not in charge of the investigation, Viki. The FBI is running things right now, and that's their theory - that Natalie was afraid for Liam's safety and placed him up for adoption to protect him from John."

"If it wasn't kidnapping, what exactly was John arrested for?" Clint asked.

Bo hesitated for a moment, looking down at his hands as he did. "They're charging John with homicide."

"Murder?" Viki gasped. "Who…no. Oh no. Please don't say it, Bo. Please don't tell me that they found…"

"There's still no body," Bo said quickly.

"Then how can they say that she's dead?"

"A murder charge without a body is unusual, I'll admit, but it has happened before," Bo said. "Nora thinks she has a very good case even without a body. Given the amount of blood at the house, John's fingerprints, the evidence of prior abuse…it's not a slam dunk by any means, but it is a strong case."

"But there's no body," Clint repeated. "They can't possibly know that Natalie's even dead."

"And that will probably be the defense's major argument," Bo agreed. "But I need you both to be prepared for what's about to happen."

"What do you mean?" Clint asked.

"Tomorrow morning, Nora is going to have to file a petition in court to have Natalie declared legally dead," Bo said. "You know as well as I do that the press is going to be all over this. We're trying to keep it quiet, but I didn't want you to hear to about it from Blanca Morales."

"She's not dead," Viki said quietly, almost as though she were trying to convince herself. "I don't care how much blood they found, I won't believe it unless I see a body."

Bo hesitated and nodded, slowly standing up. "I have to get back to the station," he said apologetically. "The Harrisons should be arriving any minute now with Liam."

Clint squeezed Viki's hand gently before standing up to face his brother. "Thank you," he said, holding out his hand to him. "It means a lot that it was you who came to tell us."

* * *

A few hours later, Bo looked up at the sound of a knock on his office door and smiled as he waved his wife into the room.

"How's your case, counselor?"

Nora sighed and shrugged as she perched herself on the edge of his desk. "Alright, I suppose. Alexis Davis has a pretty strong reputation in New York, so this is no public defender slam-dunk. She's already asking for the forensic reports so she can find someone to poke holes in the case. It sounds awful to even say it out loud, but I really wish we had a body."

"I'm afraid I can't share that sentiment," Bo said, leaning back in his chair.

"Bo, you know I don't mean it like that," Nora said sympathetically. "If the forensic team had had even a tiny bit of doubt about whether or not she could have survived that blood loss…Bo, I'd be out there with the whole Buchanan family, tearing this town apart until we found something that would help find Natalie. But they didn't have any doubt."

"I know," Bo said. "I saw the room, Nora. I've seen enough crime scenes in my day to know when I'm looking at a homicide. It just doesn't seem possible. She's supposed to have her whole life in front of her."

"And that's why I want the strongest case I can possibly build," Nora said. "I don't want a body because I want Natalie to be dead. I want a body because I want the best chance possible at bringing her killer to justice."

"Do you think you have enough without it?"

Nora hesitated but nodded. "It's a strong circumstantial case. It's not going to be easy, proving that a decorated police officer and former federal agent went off the deep end and killed the mother of his child, but between the forensic evidence from the house and Natalie's statements to Clint, not to mention those pictures she sent to you, I think we've got a good shot."

"I went by Llanfair and told Clint this afternoon," Bo said.

"How'd that go?"

"I may not like a lot of things that my brother's done over the years, and I may still not be so sure about this turn-around he's pulled recently, but no one should have to lose a child," Bo said. "Viki's already been through it once with Megan, but Clint…he's more used to long-lost children popping up on his family tree than he is to losing one. I'm not even sure having Liam home is going to help soften the blow when this really starts sinking in."

"Did they finally get him back from Colorado?"

Bo nodded. "Jessica and Joey picked him up about an hour ago and took him back to Llanfair. As soon as he saw Jessie, he started looking around and calling out for his mom. Poor kid has no idea what's going on."

"And the adoptive parents?" Nora asked. "Is the FBI going to recommend charges against them?"

"There's no reason to," Bo said with a quick shake of his head. "There's no indication that they had any idea that their adoption of Liam was one hundred percent legitimate. Someone went to a lot of trouble to fake a new birth certificate, parents' names, death certificates for the parents…they honestly thought that they were adopting a child whose parents were killed in a car accident and whose only family was the mother's aunt, who was too sick to care for him."

"You really believe that?"

"I believe that James and Olivia Harrison are as much victims here as anyone else," Bo said. "As soon as they realized there was a chance things weren't on the up-and-up, they called the authorities to report their suspicions. If they hadn't done that, we'd still be searching for a needle in a haystack, and we might never have found Liam. If they were involved, do you really think they'd be here right now?"

"I suppose not," Nora agreed. "Are they still here?"

"They're meeting with a sketch artist now," Bo said. "They could confirm that the woman who brought Liam to them wasn't Natalie, so we want to see if we can figure out who it was. It might help us figure out just how Liam got from Natalie to them."

"Well, I…" Nora paused as there was a quick knock at the door, turning her head to see Oliver Fish sticking his head into the office.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Commissioner," he said quickly, stepping into the office. "But the Harrisons just finished with the sketch artist and I thought you'd want to see the result."

"I think it can wait until morning," Bo said, standing up from his desk and reaching for his bag. "Finding that woman isn't going to bring Natalie back to her son. It's late, Fish…don't you have a daughter to be getting home to?"

Fish hesitated for a moment, glancing down at the sketch in his hands as Nora came up beside him to look. "Commissioner, I really think that…"

"Bo, you need to see this," Nora said, taking the sheet of paper out of Fish's hands, her eyes wide with shock as she handed it to her husband.

"I really don't see how this…" Bo's voice trailed off as he looked down at the image of the woman the Harrisons had described. "Son of a…are they certain?"

Fish nodded. "When I saw the sketch, I asked the Harrisons myself. They're certain that's the woman who brought Liam to the adoption agency."

"She's been off the grid for nearly a year since the prison break," Nora pointed out. "I almost thought maybe we'd heard the last of her."

Bo shook his head. "I don't think we'll have heard the last of Alison Perkins until she's six feet under with Mitch Laurence."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Happy 2012, everyone! Thank you so much for your reviews on the last chapter! Although it may not seem like it, this story is starting to wind down - I expect there will be 2-4 more chapters after this one, and possibly an epilogue (haven't decided yet if one is necessary). I've already got my next story in the works - it's something a little different than the "fix the GH mess" route that this story and Back to You went, and I'm very excited to share it with you when this story is finished!

In the meantime, enjoy this chapter - and join me in a happy dance for OLTL officially coming back this year! Online for now, but I've got my fingers crossed that a cable network will pick it up too!

* * *

Natalie winced as she took another shaky step across the basement, her eyes focused a few feet ahead on the shelf that was her target. She desperately wanted to know what exactly it was that Allison had done to her, because it had knocked out her strength like she could never have predicted. It had been weeks since she'd been basically abandoned in the basement with her not-so-dead uncle, and she was only just starting to get back enough to walk.

"Would you hurry up? I think watching paint dry would be faster than this."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Victor," she snapped, taking a deep breath before slowly taking the last steps she needed to grab the shelf. "There. Happy now?"

"Ecstatic," Victor said sarcastically. "You realize how pathetic this is, don't you?"

"Hey, it is not my fault that Allison drugged me or stole my blood or whatever the hell it is that she did," Natalie said defensively.

"No, not that," Victor said, glancing around the room. "All of this. Think about it, Natalie. Six months ago, a good day was when you found the evidence to send some criminal or other to prison. You were celebrating arrests and your kid's first steps and whatever else was going on in the family. Now a good day is walking ten feet across a dusty basement?"

Natalie frowned as she considered his words and watched him burst out laughing. "Shut up," she snapped. "It's not funny."

"Oh come on, it kind of is," Victor insisted. "I mean, the biggest thing to happen to me all year is the day you unshackled my ankle. Think about it. Everything I've done, everywhere I've been…and that's the highlight of 2012?"

Natalie hesitated for a moment before she felt herself starting to laugh against her will. "Alright," she conceded reluctantly, slumping down against the bookshelf. "That is kind of pathetic."

"And with that, we have a new first in our relationship," Victor said. "We actually agree on something."

"Mom would be so proud," Natalie said, putting her head down as she started laughing once again.

"How is Viki?"

Natalie smiled as she looked at Victor's hesitant expression. "She's good," she said. "She got married again."

"Good Lord, what is she doing, going for a world record? Even I haven't been married as many times as your mother." Victor paused before shrugging his shoulders and nodding. "Good for her. So who's the poor fool this time?"

"My dad."

"Again?"

Natalie arched an eyebrow in her uncle's direction. "How many times were you married to Tea or Blair? Not even counting Todd's marriages, just when you were around?"

"Okay fine, point taken," Victor conceded. "Tell me something else about life in Llanview."

Natalie sighed and thought for a moment, trying to remember all the details she'd already told him at moments just like this over the past few weeks that they'd been together in that basement. "Oh, I've got one," she said. "You want to hear something really funny?"

"The floor's all yours," Victor said, waving his hand with a flourish to demonstrate his point.

"Well, I told you Dorian's a senator now," Natalie said, waiting until Victor nodded to continue. "Alright, so in what I can only assume was a misunderstanding of the word counter-intelligence, Dorian is now on the Senate Intelligence Committee."

Victor snorted. "Dorian's on an intelligence committee? Seriously?"

Natalie nodded. "Told you it was funny."

"Oh, I don't think funny even…"

Victor and Natalie both froze at the sound of a lock scraping on the door at the top of the stairway. Jumping to his feet, Victor quickly helped Natalie back to the bench, barely making it back across the room in time to hear the last lock slide open. He slipped his ankle back into the shackle and leaned against the wall just as the door opened and they both looked up to see Allison step into the room with a gun in her hands.

* * *

John had never thought he would be so happy to see a simple hotel room as he was when he opened the door of his room and stepped into the dark space. The whole previous night seemed to be some sort of nightmare that he'd never imagined actually living out. There was something degrading about the holding cell at the police station, spending the night on a thin cot while he waited for the court to open so the judge could set bail.

And yet, it wasn't the dirty cell that bothered him, or the looks from the men who had been his colleagues just a few months earlier, or even the sight of his son being whisked out of the station in the arms of Joey Buchanan. No, it was the thought that while he was stuck in there, Natalie was out there somewhere and she was in trouble. He'd known the whole situation was wrong for weeks now, and he'd voiced his suspicions time and again - but it hadn't been until Alexis had told him that Natalie had supposedly handed Liam over to strangers that he'd been absolutely certain of it. If Liam had been found in London with Kevin or in Texas with Cord or even off somewhere with one of Natalie's cousins, he might have believed that she'd gone of her own free will. But he knew that his Natalie would never, ever have left their son with strangers.

"We need to talk."

John jumped slightly, nearly dropping his keys as he reached for a light switch to see who was in his hotel room. "How did you get in here?"

"I picked the lock."

John frowned and stared skeptically at the blonde sitting in the far corner of the room. "You?"

Jessica shrugged nonchalantly. "What? I held onto a few of Tess's more useful skill sets when I was integrated. Now sit down. We need to talk."

John figured it was useless to argue, and he was too tired to do much fighting anyway, so he nodded and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Alright, so talk."

"Did you kill my sister?"

John frowned. "No."

Jessica nodded. "Did you hurt her? Ever?"

"Not physically," John said, a hint of regret in his voice.

"And do you know where she is?"

"If I knew where she was, don't you think I'd tell someone to get myself out of this murder charge and get my son back?"

Jessica hesitated for a moment before she nodded again. "Alright. I believe you."

"You do?"

Jessica nodded quickly. "I believe Natalie would do a lot of things, but I don't believe she would have ever willingly handed Liam over to Allison Perkins."

"Allison Perkins? When did she come into this?" John asked in shock.

"The couple that adopted Liam, they identified her as the one who brought him to the adoption agency," Jessica said. "She was posing as his aunt or something. The feds are saying that maybe Natalie was scared and gave him to her to protect him."

"Natalie hates Allison," John pointed out. "She'd never have anything to do with her, and she'd sure as hell never trust her with Liam."

"Which is how I knew that the FBI had the wrong theory," Jessica said. "So what do we do now?"

"We?"

"Yeah, we," Jessica said. "Don't tell me you're going to mope around this hotel room and wait for one more bad thing to happen? I know you have a plan, and you're going to let me help, so stop stalling and let's start finding my sister."

John carefully considered kicking Jessica out at that moment, but he knew he'd never get her out of the door. And as much of a distraction as she might be, he supposed she could also be helpful. "Alright, well, I figured the first place I was going to start is with Natalie's new boyfriend."

Jessica stared at John in surprise. "Her what?"

"Her new boyfriend," John said. "Who is he?"

"Natalie doesn't have a new boyfriend," Jessica said. "Where on earth would you get the idea that she did?"

"She told me so," John said. "She wrote me a letter back in early October, told me that she'd met a new guy in Llanview, that she hadn't gone looking for it but she'd had a long talk with you and decided to give it a shot, and that I needed to stay away from them. So who is he, Jessica?"

"John, no one in Llanview has seen Natalie since August," Jessica said. "And the most communication I've had with her since then is a few emails. There certainly haven't been any long talks."

"Why would she lie about something like that?" John asked in confusion. "Something that she knew I could easily find out wasn't true?"

Jessica gasped. "Oh my God," she muttered. "_That's_ what she meant."

"What she meant when?" John asked. "Jessica?"

"In her emails, there were a lot of little details that weren't right. I just assumed she was tired and stressed and forgetting things, but what if it was on purpose?" Jessica asked, her voice almost frantic. "John, what if she was trying to tell us that she wasn't writing those emails? That she didn't write that letter?"

"It was in her handwriting," John pointed out.

"Okay, fine, but what if she didn't have a choice about it?" Jessica asked. "What if someone was making her write that letter?"

"What are you saying? That this is all some big conspiracy?" John asked skeptically. "I know something's happened to her, but months and months of lies and letters and court orders…for _all_ of that to be some grand master plan…"

"It's the only thing that makes sense, John," Jessica insisted. "Think about it. Her sudden disappearance, the pictures to make it look like you hit her, the custody suit, Liam ending up with Allison Perkins…John, the only person who's seen Natalie since August is the custody lawyer, and he ended up dead in a dumpster in Connecticut!"

"Alright, let's say this is someone's plan," John said. "What's the motive? Why are they doing this to Natalie? To me?"

"It's Allison Perkins, John, the woman thinks her sole purpose in life is to make Mom and, by extension Natalie, miserable," Jessica said. "Do you need more of a motive than that?"

John shook his head. "I guess not."

"John…what about the blood?" Jessica asked hesitantly. "There really was a lot of blood in the house. Do you think…could Natalie be…"

"She's not dead," John interrupted forcefully. "I can't explain how I know it, but I know she's not dead. Your sister's alive, Jessica, and we're going to find her and bring her home."


	13. Chapter 13

"Oh how wonderful, you're both here," Allison said, smirking as she walked down the stairs into the basement. "Now Victor, don't you go anywhere, we're just getting to the good part. I do think you'll enjoy the grand finale of our little story. This is the part where the villain finally gets what's been coming to her."

"Why?What are you going to do, shoot yourself?" Victor asked impatiently.

Allison shook her head and laughed. "Now, now, Victor, that's not the grateful sentiment I'd expect. Here I am, going to the trouble of letting you see an important moral lesson, and you're trying to make jokes? There's a time and a place, Victor, and now is not that time or that place."

"You wouldn't know morals if they smacked you in the face," Natalie snapped from her seat on the bench.

Allison frowned and turned toward Natalie. "Now that's interesting, coming from the sinner at the heart of this story. You're about to be the final piece of my plan, Natalie."

"What plan?" Victor asked. "Your plan to prove to the world that you're a psychopath? Don't worry, the world already knows that."

"Shut up!" Allison snapped, glaring over her shoulder at Victor. "Pay attention. This isn't about you, Victor, this is about karma. This is about justice. This is about actions and their consequences. And soon enough, the whole world will see that your little niece's actions had consequences."

"What actions?" Victor asked curiously.

"The little bitch is a murderer," Allison seethed, turning back to Natalie. "Isn't that right, Natalie? Why don't you tell Uncle Victor all about how you shot and killed the Messenger in cold blood?"

"Mitch Laurence deserved everything he got and more," Natalie said, looking Allison right in the eye as she spoke.

"Unrepentant, even at the end," Allison said, shaking her head. "A sign of a true sinner, a soul lost forever. You took the Messenger's life, Natalie. Now I'm taking everything that matters to you. You see, Victor, Natalie's precious baby boy is being raised by strangers, just like Natalie was, and all the money and power in the world won't be able to find him. Detective McBain thinks that she's left him and moved on and is keeping their baby away from him. And, of course, the rest of Llanview - the rest of the world, really - thinks that she's been murdered, and that John McBain is guilty."

"What?!" Natalie exclaimed. "That's crazy, how could anybody think that? I'm not dead!"

Allison shrugged. "I may have borrowed a little blood to plant at the crime scene," she said innocently. "I hope you weren't too fond of that carpet in little Liam's nursery, Natalie. Of course, I'm sure that blood won't be enough for long, which is where our grand finale comes in. You're going to help me seal John McBain's fate."

"I'm not helping you," Natalie said.

"No one said you had a choice," Allison said, calmly raising her gun and leveling it at Natalie. "You see, Natalie, it's not you that I need, just your body."

The next moments seemed to move in slow motion for Natalie. She heard Victor scream for her to duck, and she lunged for the floor just as she saw Allison's finger squeeze the trigger and felt a searing pain in her leg. Turning her head, she saw Victor and Allison struggling for the gun. It went off once in the air, its bullet lodging somewhere up in the ceiling. The noise was just enough of a distraction for Victor to get an upper hand on Allison, knocking her off her feet. Natalie heard the gun discharge one more time before it slipped out of Allison's hand and slid across the floor.

Taking a deep breath, Natalie ignored the pain in her leg as she scrambled to her feet and grabbed the gun from the floor. She watched Victor and Allison continue to struggle for a moment, but when Allison pulled a knife out of her back pocket, she knew she didn't have a choice, whether she had a good shot or not. Saying a silent prayer, Natalie held her breath and squeezed the trigger.

* * *

Jessica let out a long sigh as she climbed out of the passenger's seat of John's car and looked over at him. "Exactly how many more places are we going to go to?"

"As many as it takes to find someone who's seen Allison or Natalie," John said. "You didn't have to come with me on this little field trip, Jessica. In fact, I remember suggesting you stay behind. If you'd prefer, you can wait in the car."

"If I were missing, there's no way in hell that Natalie would let you run around Connecticut chasing down leads without her," Jessica said. "So I'm not about to let you fly solo on this one, McBain."

"Fine," John conceded reluctantly as they approached the storefront. "Just keep your mouth shut this time, okay?"

"You're not a cop anymore, John, you don't get to tell me what to do," Jessica said. "We're both civilians here."

John shook his head and bit back a retort as he opened the door and walked toward the counter in the back of the store. It had been a long drive to Hartford, after a long night with little sleep, and their afternoon of searching hadn't exactly been easy or fruitful. John was learning the hard way that people weren't always so keen to talk to someone who didn't have a badge to flash at them. Still, canvasing the neighborhoods around where the lawyer's body had turned up was the only solid idea either of them had had to begin their search, so he knew he didn't have much choice but to keep going.

"Can I help you, officer?"

John frowned as they approached the old man at the counter. "I'm not a cop," he said, noting how strange the words sounded coming out of his mouth. "At least not today."

"So what do you want?"

"Is this your store?" John asked, looking around.

"What's it to you?" the man asked defensively.

"Just trying to get a feel for things," John said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Allison Perkins' mug shot. "You recognize this woman?"

"Can't say as I do," the man said, not bothering to look down at the photograph.

"You didn't even look!" Jessica protested indignantly.

"Listen, lady, we get a lot of people in and out of this store, it's a big town," the man said. "And my regulars, they're good people and I won't do them no harm, so if you're looking for a turncoat, you've got the wrong guy."

"I don't care about your regulars," Jessica said, pleading with the man as her voice cracked and a few tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. "My sister was kidnapped, and finding that woman is the only hope we have of finding her alive. Please, just look at the picture. Please?"

The old man sighed and took the picture from John. "Well, I'll be damned," he muttered, letting out a low whistle and shaking his head as he looked at the image. "I'll tell you what, if you find her, you tell her she owes me three hundred bucks."

"For what?"

"Paint, primer, drywall…said she'd inherited her brother's place and was making a few repairs," the man said. "She seemed like a nice lady, and I like making connections with the locals, so I agreed to put it on credit for her. That was six months ago and I haven't seen her since."

"You don't happen to know where this place she was fixing up was, do you?" John asked, placing a hand on Jessica's arm to restrain her from jumping on the question.

"Sure," the man said. "The old Lazarus place, about twenty miles west of here. Real isolated, can't imagine why she'd want to live all the way out there by herself."

"Did…did you say Lazarus?" Jessica asked.

The man nodded. "Mike Lazarus. Funny recluse of a man, but nice enough. Lived there for most of the nineties, then he disappeared. I was kind of surprised to find out he had a sister, actually."

"Can you give us the address of the house?" John asked.

The man shrugged and grabbed a pen and a pad of paper, scribbling down a few lines before tearing off the sheet and handing it to John. "Like I said, you find her, you remind her she owes me that money."

"We will," John assured him, grabbing Jessica's elbow and leading her out of the store. "What's the matter?" he asked as they neared the car. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Lazarus," Jessica said quietly. "Michael Lazarus was one of Mitch Laurence's aliases. It's the one he used when he conned Natalie into marrying him. You don't think…he was dead, wasn't he, John? Natalie did kill him?"

"Yeah, he was dead," John said gently. "Allison may have found the house he owned, but that doesn't mean anything other than that she needed a place to stay."

"You're sure?" Jessica asked hesitantly.

John nodded. "I saw him with my own eyes, Jessica. Mitch Laurence is dead," John assured her. "Now come on, let's get out to this address and see if we can't shake out Allison Perkins."


	14. Chapter 14

Victor groaned in pain as he sat up, turning his head to see Allison's lifeless body lying next to him. Slowly, he reached his hand out and pressed two fingers into the artery on her neck to feel for a pulse. Pulling his fingers back, he smiled.

"I gotta admit, Natalie, you're a hell of a shot," Victor said, shaking his head as he looked at Natalie, who was now leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room. "Certainly a lot better than Todd."

"She's…she's dead?" Natalie asked skeptically.

Victor nodded. "No pulse and no breathing. That's dead in my book."

"I can't believe it," Natalie said, her shock evident in her voice. "She's really gone. All these years, and she's finally gone."

"Yeah, and now we better hightail it out of here too," Victor said, trying to push himself up off the floor. "Shit. Come here and give me a hand."

Natalie gasped as she limped over toward him and saw the blood on his shit. "Oh God, you're shot! I didn't do that, did I?"

Victor shook his head. "The gun went off when we were struggling. I'll be fine, it takes more than a bullet to get me down. Now give me a hand, would you?"

Natalie nodded and grabbed his outstretched arm. A few minutes later, after much effort on both their parts, she and Victor were finally both standing in the middle of the basement.

"Now what?" Natalie asked.

"Well, we can sit around and wait for Looney Tunes's hired muscle to come down here and find us," Victor said. "Or we could go with plan B and go out that window over there."

"Wouldn't the stairs be easier?" Natalie asked, looking up at the dusty window in the corner.

"Sure, until we got to the top and ran into whoever else is here," Victor said. "I don't know about you, but even with that gun, I'm not really in any condition to get in another fight today."

Natalie nodded. "I guess you've got a point. Window it is…but if I freeze to death out in that snow, I'm coming back to haunt you."

"If you freeze to death out there, I probably will too," Victor said. "You can't haunt someone who's already dead."

"Let's not test that theory, alright?" Natalie said, standing below the window and staring up at it. "Alright genius, how exactly do you propose we get up there?"

* * *

John frowned as he steered his car around yet another bend in the gravel road. "Are you sure we're going the right direction?" he asked, glancing over at Jessica.

"How should I know? This is the road that's on the map, that's all I know," Jessica said.

"We should be there by now," John said impatiently, tapping the steering wheel as he pressed down on the accelerator again.

"Hey, ease up there, alright?" Jessica suggested. "I want to get there as fast as possible too, but I'd also prefer to get there _alive_. I don't think we're going to be much help to Natalie if you flip this car taking the next turn. And we're close, I can feel it."

"I know," John agreed. "I just hope we're not too late, that's all."

Jessica nodded. "Is that it up on the hill there?"

"It's got to be," John said, swerving the car off the road and parking behind a cluster of trees.

"What are you doing?" Jessica asked in confusion when he killed the engine and started to unbuckle his seat belt.

"You didn't think we were going to just drive up and ring the doorbell, did you?" John asked. "If Allison's in there and she sees us coming, there's no telling what she'll do."

"Alright, well then what's our plan?"

John sighed as he grabbed his gun and stuck it in a holster around his waist. "You're staying in the car, Jessica. We have no idea what we're up against here. It's too dangerous for you."

"Like hell I'm staying in the car," Jessica snapped, quickly unbuckling her seat belt and jumping out after John. "Seriously, it's like you think I'm a child or something."

John sighed and shook his head. "I don't have an extra piece for you."

"That's good, I'm not all that fond of guns anyway."

"Fine," John conceded. "You keep quiet and you keep behind me. If I say run, you run. If I say duck, you duck. If I…"

"Again with the child talk!" Jessica protested.

"Jessica, this isn't a game," John said seriously.

"You think I don't know that? There's a crazy woman in that house holding my sister hostage," Jessica pointed out. "Now are you going to stand here arguing with me, or are we going to go get her out of there?"

* * *

Natalie let out a breath of relief as she turned around and looked at the house a few feet behind her.

"You taste that?" Victor asked, leaning heavily against a nearby tree.

"Taste what?" Natalie asked, turning back to her uncle.

"Fresh air," Victor said, his grin mixed with a grimace of pain that Natalie knew he was trying to cover up. "I wasn't sure I'd breathe that in again."

"Yeah, well, let's not get cocky here," Natalie said. "We've got to get moving and find some help before you bleed to death, or before we both freeze to death. We're not exactly dressed for winter, in case you hadn't noticed."

Victor glanced down at the thin shirts they were both wearing. "Yeah, I noticed. Alright, let's go."

Natalie nodded as she helped him up again and they slowly started making their way away from the house.

"Can I ask you a question?" Natalie asked a few minutes later, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them.

"You're going to anyway, so you might as well get it over with," Victor said.

"Why did you help me?" Natalie asked. "When Allison dumped me in the basement, you probably saved my life. And as soon as I unlocked your shackle, you could have taken off and left me, but you stuck around. Why?"

Victor shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe I felt like I owed you one, you know, for the whole paternity thing I didn't tell you about," Victor said. "Now we're even."

"I don't buy that," Natalie said. "You could have let Allison shoot me, but instead you got shot trying to stop her. You don't even like me, Victor. Why would you risk your life for me? It doesn't make sense."

"If it had been me she was going to shoot, you would have done the exact same thing," Victor pointed out.

"Well yeah, but I'm a better person than you are," Natalie said. "So what's your excuse?"

Victor sighed. "Do you really think I could go home and be the guy who let his niece get killed? You think Viki could have ever forgiven me for that?"

"She's forgiven you for a lot of terrible things in the past."

Victor shook his head. "No, she's forgiven Todd for a lot of terrible things. She doesn't even know Victor, why should she forgive him?"

"I'm not following," Natalie said in confusion.

"Look, Todd has a reputation. When I thought I was Todd, people expected me to screw up and do horrible things," Victor said. "People expect to have to forgive Todd for screwing up. Hell, they've probably already forgiven him for killing me. But me…I don't even know who Victor is, so how should anyone else? There's no history there. Why should they care enough to forgive me?"

"Oh my God," Natalie muttered as the realization hit her. "You're actually afraid that we're going to go home to Llanview and no one's going to love you."

"Can you blame me?" Victor asked. "They had all of, what, twenty minutes to get used to me as Victor before I died. There's no bond there."

"Man up, Victor, you'll be fine," Natalie said. "And for the record, the only person who's really even started to forgive Todd for killing you is Starr. Everyone stood up for him at first when he was saying he didn't do it, and then when it came out that he did and he tried to frame Tomas…well, it didn't exactly win him any supporters. As for Victor…you'd be surprised what being dead can do for a guy's reputation. You're practically a saint at this point. Trust me, you'll be welcomed back with open arms."

"A saint? Seriously?"

"Don't let it go to your head, five minutes with an alive you and the rose-colored glasses will disappear."

Victor laughed, grimacing as his abs clenched in protest. "Okay, laughing's not so good with a bullet in your side."

Natalie sighed and nodded. "Come on, let's keep moving. There's got to be civilization out here somewhere."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** So sorry for the delay in getting this next chapter up! There will be at least one, possibly two, more chapters after this one before the story wraps up. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

An hour later, John kept his gun aimed steadily at the three guards he and Jessica had found throughout Allison's house. Although they were now tied to chairs in the corner of the kitchen, he knew better than to turn his back on them, especially with Jessica still in the room - there was no way he was going back to Llanview to tell Clint Buchanan that he'd not only not found Natalie, he'd gotten her sister killed.

"Alright, one of you is going to start talking," John said impatiently. "Where is Allison Perkins?"

Getting no response back, John cocked his gun and pointed it just over the shoulder of the man he took to be the leader of the trio. Pulling the trigger, he ignored the way Jessica shrieked in surprise as the bullet whizzed past the man's head and into the wall behind him.

"I'm not going to ask again, and next time, that bullet goes in your kneecaps," John said. "Where is your boss? Where's Allison?"

"She ain't our boss," one of the men snapped. "We work for the Messenger."

John shook his head as he heard Jessica gasp behind him and he briefly wondered if it really were possible that Mitch Laurence was somehow still alive.

"Hate to break it you, then, but your boss is dead," John said. "Has been for almost a year."

The man laughed and shook his head. "You think the death of his messenger will stop God's will? You poor sinner…you have no idea. The Messenger may be gone, but our work continues. We…"

John glanced back at Jessica, who shrugged in confusion. "Alright, that's enough," John interrupted. "I don't care who you think your boss is. All I want is for someone to tell me where I can find Allison."

Two of the men looked at each other briefly before one nodded. "She went down to the basement about an hour ago," he said.

"But you won't find your little girlfriend down there," the third man piped up. "She went down there to kill the bitch."

"Why you little…!" Jessica screamed, lunging forward as John reached out and pulled her back.

"Easy," he cautioned her. "Let's go to the basement and find Allison before we panic."

"John, we searched the entire house," Jessica pointed out. "There is no basement."

John frowned and looked back at the three men, who shrugged and smirked.

"Unless…"

John turned back to Jessica in confusion. "Unless what?"

Jessica hesitated for a moment, glancing over at the shelves in the pantry. "Those shelves are uneven," she said, walking toward them.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Jessica glanced back at John over her shoulder as she moved the cans on the shelves to feel behind them. "When Tess kept Natalie and Jared locked in the basement room at Llanfair, she hid the entrance behind a shelf," she said, pausing for a second. "And…yup, there it is. Help me move this shelf, there's a door back here."

"Allison copied Tess?" John asked skeptically as the dragged the shelf back to reveal the hidden door.

"Maybe not exactly, it's not like hiding a door behind a shelf is some brilliant new idea. It happens in pretty much every spy movie I've ever seen," Jessica said, reaching for the door handle.

"Not so fast," John cautioned, grabbing her hand and pulling it back. "I'll go first. If Allison's down there, the last thing I need is her going after you."

* * *

Jessica tapped her foot impatiently as she stood at the top of the stairs and waited for John to come back up. She figured it had probably only been a few minutes, but it felt like hours as she stood there. Just as she was about to give up being patient and go down there herself, she heard John's footsteps coming back up the stairs.

"Well?" she asked anxiously when he appeared, his cell phone in his hand. "Did you find Allison? Where's Natalie? Was she down there?"

John shook his head. "Allison's dead."

"Dead? How?"

"Looks like someone shot her," John said. "One bullet, right through the heart."

"Oh my God," Jessica gasped. "What do we do? Should we call the police?"

"I called Bo, he's going to get in touch with Hartford PD and get them out here," John said, tucking his gun back into its holster. "In the meantime, I'm not waiting around for a search team to get here."

"Search for what?" Jessica asked.

"Those goons over there thought Natalie was in the basement," John pointed out. "There was an open window with some furniture stacked underneath it. And Allison Perkins sure as hell didn't shoot herself. Her body was still warm - if Natalie escaped, she can't be that far from here."

"John, it's the middle of December, it's twenty degrees out there!"

"Which is why I'm not waiting," John said, starting to walk toward the door. "Come on, it's almost dusk, we're burning daylight here."

* * *

"I don't think I can do this," Victor said, his hand clasped to his side as he leaned against a tree and shook his head in defeat. "You go on, the road can't be that much further."

Natalie frowned as she turned around, shivering as she tried to ignore the patches of snow beneath her bare feet. "Excuse me? You don't really think I dragged your ass for God-knows-how-many hours just for you to quit when we're almost there, do you?"

"_You_ dragged _me_?" Victor asked skeptically. "Little miss it's so cold, I'm so tired, blah blah blah? Sure, you go ahead and think that."

"I don't care who dragged who, you are not quitting on me now, Victor!" Natalie insisted. "Now get up and let's get moving."

"It's nearly dark," Victor pointed out. "You've probably got another hour before you'll have to find shelter for the night. If you move fast, you might…"

"Oh, would you just shut up with that talk! You didn't leave me in that basement to die, and I'm not going to leave you out here to die either," Natalie said. "You can't go home as the guy who let his niece die any more than I can go home as the girl who let her uncle die. How would I face my cousins? And just how do you think they'd survive losing you twice?"

"They'll be…fine," Victor said, his breathing growing labored. "They've had a year to get used to not having me. They survived that…they'll survive this."

Natalie shook her head. "Oh yeah, sure, they survived all right. Poor little Sam won't even watch a baseball game anymore because that's what you two used to do together. Jack's on a path of self-destruction that's going to have serving twenty-five to life before he's out of his teens. And Dani…Dani misses you so much, she tried to kill herself."

"Danielle did what?!" Victor exclaimed, managing to lean forward just a bit. "When? Is she alright? What happened?"

Natalie hesitated for a moment. "No one knows that this happened, and when you get back to Llanview, it's got to stay that way, alright?"

Victor nodded.

"She stole a gun from Todd, went down to the quarry in the middle of the night, and tried to shoot herself," Natalie said. "Thank God she was so nervous that her hand slipped at the last second. The bullet didn't even hit her, it just went straight over her shoulder and into the water."

"How do you know about this?"

"John and I had had another fight that evening, and I went out for a walk to try to clear my head," Natalie said. "I hadn't been down to the quarry in years, but I guess I thought it might help. When I heard the shot, I ran over to see what had had happened, and I found Dani sitting there with the gun. It didn't take a forensic specialist to figure out what she'd been trying to do."

"When was this?" Victor asked.

"May, I think," Natalie said. "It wasn't long after Todd was acquitted of killing you. Todd had been hounding her and Jack to try to form some sort of relationship, and to have him just be so flippant about you dying when she was still grieving…it all kind of just came to a head, and she thought she couldn't deal with it anymore."

"Is she okay now? I mean, she's not going to try again, is she?"

Natalie shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. "I took the gun away, and the next day I took her to Boston, checked her into an inpatient program on a seventy-hour hold. Fake name, of course, so no one could find her. It was the only way she'd agree to go. When we went back to Llanview, Tea thought she'd run away, so we just went along with that and told her that I'd found her hitchhiking and talked her into coming back home. But Victor, she's not okay. She still needs her dad, and that's you."

"I…can't," Victor insisted. "I want to…Natalie I can't walk anymore."

"Yes, you can," Natalie said. "You just have to…"

Victor watched as Natalie froze mid-sentence and straightened up, looking off into the distance.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Did you hear that?" Natalie asked. "Listen. I thought…I thought I heard John's voice."

"You're hallucinating, Natalie. I don't hear anything."

Natalie shook her head. "No…listen! Don't you hear that?"

Victor frowned and concentrated for a moment. "It could be just the wind," he said. "Or one of Allison's guards looking for us."

"No, it's John," Natalie insisted. "I'm sure of it."

"If it's not…"

"It is," Natalie assured him, taking a deep breath to gather her strength before turning toward the house and shouting with everything she had left. "John!"


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **Thank you all so much for the reviews and messages checking in on this story and my progress - I am so sorry that it took so long to get this update ready, but I appreciate your patience! It helped to know that so many of you were out there thinking about Dear John and wanting it to continue.

I told some of you that this would be the last chapter, and when I was writing it, I really thought it would be - but as you know, these stories have a life of their own, and this chapter was getting far too long to include everything that still needed to be said. So, there will be at least one more chapter to come!

And a big shout-out and thank you to PCGirl for letting me bounce some ideas/sticking points around while I was finishing this chapter..it really helped iron out some of the rough spots in my plan for this chapter, so thank you, my dear!

* * *

_"No, it's John," Natalie insisted. "I'm sure of it."_

_"If it's not…"_

_"It is," Natalie assured him, taking a deep breath to gather her strength before turning toward the house and shouting with everything she had left. "John!"_

"John…" Natalie groaned softly as she opened her eyes, feeling as though a ton of bricks were laying on her chest as she squinted into the bright light. Almost immediately, she was met by the sound of chairs scraping against the floor and people hurrying around the room. Slowly opening her eyes a bit more, she mustered up half a smile at the sight of her family - her parents and Jessica pressed up against the side of her bed, while John hovered just a few feet behind her sister, looking a bit unsure of his place in the room.

"Natalie?" Viki's voice drew Natalie's attention to the side of her bed. "Oh sweetheart, it's so good to see you awake."

"You've had us all worried sick, honey," Clint added, wrapping an arm around Viki's shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

Natalie frowned and hesitated for a moment, as though assessing her condition mentally. "Like I got run over by a bus or something," she admitted. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital," Viki explained. "Hartford Memorial."

"Connecticut?" Natalie asked in confusion, closing her eyes as she tried to fight the fog that seemed to be hanging over her mind at that moment. "How did…what are we doing in Hartford?"

"This was the closest hospital to where John and I found you," Jessica said.

"John…" Natalie whispered, looking across the room at him. "John…oh my God, Liam!" Natalie was nearly frantic as she felt the tears in her eyes and she turned to her sister. "Liam…Allison took him and I…Jess, I don't know where he is…"

"Hey, it's okay," Jessica assured her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly. "Liam is fine. He's safe at home with Joey right now."

"He is?" Natalie asked in disbelief.

Jessica nodded. "We talked about this on the ambulance ride, Natalie. Don't you remember?"

"No," Natalie shook her head.

"The doctor said you might have some residual memory loss," Viki said. "You've been through a terrible ordeal, and with the cold weather and your low blood volume…well, they warned us you might have trouble remembering what happened."

"Do you remember anything?" Jessica asked.

Natalie frowned and shut her eyes as she tried to fight the fog that was clouding her brain. "I remember being in the woods, calling for John…Victor thought I was imagining hearing his voice…" Natalie paused and looked over at her mother. "Mom, Uncle Victor…he's not dead."

Viki hesitated but nodded. "I know, Natalie."

Natalie's brow furrowed at her mother's very tempered reaction. "He's alright, isn't he? He had a gunshot wound, but it wasn't bleeding much…he didn't die again, did he?"

"No, he's going to make a full recovery," Viki assured her.

"Don't you worry about that man," Clint added. "He'll get everything that's coming to him."

Natalie frowned and stared at her parents as she tried to understand their reaction.

"Sweetheart, why don't you tell us what you do remember," Viki suggested gently.

"I had a gun," Natalie said quietly, glancing down at her hand. "I tried to fire a signal shot, but I couldn't grip the trigger, so Victor had to do it…"

_"Do you think it worked?" Natalie asked anxiously, shivering as she wrapped her arms around her waist and looked around expectantly._

_"How the hell should I know?" Victor asked, twirling the gun in his hand as he leaned wearily against a tree trunk. "All I know is they're more likely to hear a gunshot than your screeching."_

_"Yeah, well, you'd better hope that bullet accomplishes more than just scaring those poor birds," Natalie said. "We don't have that many bullets, you know."_

_"Are you expecting a shoot out?" Victor asked. "Because a little warning would be nice if you are, especially since you can't even seem to get a shot off at the moment."_

_Natalie rolled her eyes, about to offer up another retort when the unmistakable sound of a tree branch breaking under the weight of a footstep interrupted her thoughts. Quickly turning toward the sound, she could have sworn she'd never been so happy to see anyone as she was to see her sister come around from behind a tree._

"Which is how John and I found you," Jessica filled in.

Natalie nodded. "I remember you coming…and then John, you were right behind her, right?"

John nodded silently.

"And then…it's a little fuzzy, but I remember a lot of yelling…"

_"What the…" John stared in shock as he stopped just behind Jessica and followed her gaze across the small clearing. Nearly five months after he'd last seen her, Natalie was standing just a few feet from him. Her clothes were no more than thin rags, her skin was pale and her face sunken, her once-healthy figure depleted by months of captivity to a frightening level of thinness. And yet, the most shocking sight he saw was not his girlfriend's wretched appearance - no, after months of missing her, not knowing where she was or who she was with or what she was feeling, even her current state was beautiful to him. No, the most shocking thing to John McBain was the fact that next to Natalie, leaning against a large tree, with a gun in one hand and the other hand holding Natalie's elbow, was a man who was supposed to be long dead and buried back in Llanview._

_Almost immediately, John had his gun raised and trained on his torso. "Drop the gun, Manning…Victor," he quickly corrected himself. "Drop the gun and no one has to get today."_

_"Oh, for God's sake," Victor groaned. "Are we really going to do this here, McBain? We can't save the bad cop routine for someplace else…someplace, I don't know, like a hospital?"_

_"I'm not going to repeat myself," John insisted. "Put the gun on the ground and let Natalie go." _

_Natalie gasped, glancing down at Victor's hand on her arm as she suddenly realized what John thought was going on. "John, don't do anything stupid," she cautioned._

_"The only one doing stupid things here is Victor," John said. "I want that gun on the ground in the next five seconds or I'm going to shoot."_

_"No, you're not," Natalie insisted, her legs shaking as she stepped in front of her uncle. "You'll have to shoot me first."_

_"Natalie, what are you doing?" Jessica asked._

_"Jess, this isn't what John thinks," Natalie assured her. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing."_

_"John, maybe you should listen to her," Jessica suggested. "We can sort this all out after get Natalie to a hospital and make sure that she's alright."_

_Natalie glanced back over her shoulder at Victor. "Put the gun down, Victor," she whispered._

_"I'm not even pointing it at anyone," Victor protested. "Your boy toy's the one threatening to shoot! You know, I told you this would happen…even after a year of being dead, people still assume the worst of me. McPain's going to shoot me the second he has the chance."_

_"I'm not going to let that happen," Natalie insisted. "The sooner you put that gun down, the sooner John will put his down, and the sooner we can get you to a hospital."_

_Victor hesitated, glancing around Natalie at John._

_"Or, you know, we could stay out here and freeze to death," Natalie offered. "I'm sure Tea wouldn't mind burying you a second time. I wonder how much it costs to have the date changed on a headstone?"_

_Victor glared at her for a moment before he sighed and nodded. "Alright, alright," he conceded, tossing the gun onto the ground and throwing his up in the air. "There, McBain, no gun. Happy now?"_

"That's…that's all I can remember," Natalie said, leaning back against her pillow. "What happened after that?"

"Don't worry, it was nothing exciting," Jessica assured her. "We brought you back here to the hospital as quickly as we could, but you were out of it for most of that. The doctors said it was a combination of anemia and malnutrition…oh, and there was an infection in your leg that they're treating. They think you were running pretty much on adrenaline while you were out there, and then when you knew you were safe, your body just sort of shut down to recover."

Natalie nodded, looking briefly at her parents before her gaze fell on John again, still standing a few steps behind her sister, and still looking thoroughly out of place.

"Hey guys?" she said softly, looking first at her parents and then at her sister. "Do you think I could have a minute with John? Alone?"

"Of course, sweetheart," Viki said, shooting a warning glance at her husband before leaning down and kissing Natalie's forehead. "I think I'll go call Joey and let him know he should get Liam ready to come see his mom."

Natalie smiled as her mother took a step back and her father stepped forward, kissing her gently on the cheek. "We'll be right outside if you need us, honey," Clint said.

"I know, Dad," Natalie said. "I promise, I'm going to be fine."

Clint nodded, taking Viki's hand as they stepped out of the room, followed closely by Jessica, who offered up an encouraging smile to her sister before closing the door behind them.

Natalie watched John for a moment as he hesitated, unsure how to act or where to even begin. Slowly, she lifted her hand off the bed and held it out to him, smiling when he stepped forward and took it in his. Closing her eyes, she smiled and let herself feel safe for the first time in months.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **You know, one of these days I'm going to sit down to write the last chapter for this story, and it's actually going to end up being the last chapter - but this one isn't it either! I thought I could get John and Natalie's conversation and the rest of the hospital scenes all in one chapter, but those silly lovebirds, they took up more time than I'd originally planned for them. So, at least one more chapter after this to wrap everything up!

* * *

"So…" John began, slowly taking a seat on the edge of the bed, Natalie's hand still holding tightly to his.

"Liam's really okay?" Natalie asked.

John nodded. "That's what they tell me, yeah."

"You…you haven't seen him?" Natalie asked in confusion. "Why is he with Joey? Why isn't he with you?"

John sighed, realizing suddenly exactly how much of the last five months had been a complete fabrication. "It's a long story," he told her. "A lot of things have happened while you were away. I don't know how she did it, but Allison managed to manipulate all of us."

"I remember…she said something about a custody hearing?"

"Yeah, we had one of those," John said. "It, uh, didn't exactly go well, for either of us. Joey has custody right now. But as soon as you're well enough, I promise we'll right to the judge and tell her everything that happened, and we'll get our son back."

Natalie nodded. "I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't been okay."

"I don't know what I would have done if _you_ hadn't been okay," John countered. "When I think about how long Allison had you, what you went through…Natalie, I am so sorry I didn't realize what was going on sooner. If I hadn't been so distracted, if I'd been home more…"

"Hey," Natalie interrupted sharply, reaching out and placing her hand on his cheek. "Let's get one thing straight right now, okay? This was _not_ your fault, and I am not going to lie here and let you beat yourself up about something that you had nothing to do with. The only person to blame for what happened to me is Allison Perkins, and seeing as she dead, I think she got what she deserved."

"You know about that," John said in surprise. "Were you there when Victor shot her?"

Natalie frowned and looked at John in confusion. "What?"

"When Victor killed Allison," John repeated. "Were you there? We still don't have all the pieces quite in place…if you saw what happened, that could be very helpful when the local PD is putting their case together."

"They're going to charge him with killing Allison?" Natalie asked in shock. "John, we're talking about Allison Perkins here."

"I know," John sighed. "And I'm not saying I'm not glad the woman's dead. Hell, I probably would have shot her myself if I'd been there. But if they can get an angle that isn't self-defense, it's their best chance at bringing some sort of charges against Victor for his involvement in your kidnapping and…"

"His _what_?!" Natalie exclaimed, staring at John with her mouth slightly agape. "John, what the hell do you think happened out there?"

"We found him holding you at gunpoint in the woods, Natalie. It was pretty obvious to most of us that he'd faked his death and been trying to carry out some sort of convoluted plan in cooperation with Allison," John said. "What exactly he was after, we haven't quite figured out yet. But obviously, he and Allison had some sort of argument, she shot him, he got the gun away and shot her, then he took you and ran before her henchmen could find him."

"That's why Mom and Dad looked so odd when I mentioned him," Natalie said.

"Viki is being, well, very Viki-like, and trying to temper her opinion until, as she put it, all the facts are known, but your father's ready to string Victor up and hang him," John said. "And quite frankly, he'll have to beat me to him."

"What about Tea and the kids?"

John shook his head. "We've kept this whole thing very quiet," he said. "It's only been about twenty-four hours since we found you. Other than your parents and Jessica, the doctors and the local PD are the only ones who even know he's alive."

"And what about Victor?" Natalie asked. "What did he say happened?"

"He's only been awake a few hours longer than you," John said. "But he's not saying much. He asked what I thought happened, then told me I'd got it all figured out, so why would I need his statement?"

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Natalie muttered, shaking her head before letting out a resigned sigh and starting to push the sheets off of her legs. "Alright, let's go."

"What? Where?" John asked, jumping to his feet.

"Where else? To see Uncle Victor," Natalie said, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and staring at the ground. "To tell him he's an idiot."

"Not that I'm opposed to the general message, but I think your doctor would prefer if you stayed in bed," John said, reaching out to help Natalie lie back down. "And so would I."

Natalie swatted his hand away forcefully. "I don't care what you think," she said. "And for the record, you're an idiot, too."

"What on earth is going on in here?"

Natalie and John both looked over as Viki, with Clint just behind her, stepped back into the room to find Natalie half out of the bed.

"Sweetheart, what do you think you're doing?" she asked, hurrying toward Natalie. "You need to be resting, you're in no condition to be out of bed yet."

"But Mom, you don't understand. I have to see Uncle Victor," Natalie insisted.

Viki frowned and shook her head. "Natalie…"

"Over my dead body do you go anywhere near that man," Clint snapped.

"Dad, you don't understand," Natalie said. "None of what you're assuming is true. He's not the bad guy here."

"John, what is she talking about?" Viki asked in confusion. "You said you found Victor holding her at gunpoint."

"I did," John said.

"He fired a signal shot," Natalie explained. "Mom, he was only holding the gun because when I tried to shoot it, my fingers were too frozen to squeeze the trigger. And he didn't kill Allison, either…I did."

"_You_ shot Allison Perkins?" John asked skeptically.

"Don't act so shocked, you know I can shoot," Natalie said. "I shot Mitch Laurence with you right there, I'm sure you haven't forgotten that. That's what started this whole mess in the first place."

"How do you figure that?"

"Because this whole thing…kidnapping me, taking Liam away, framing you for murder…this was all Allison's way of getting revenge for Mitch's death," Natalie said. "She held you and I responsible, so she wanted to punish us. She was insane, John, and I'm not sorry I killed her, even if the police want to press charges."

"No one's going to press charges," Clint said. "That woman was a menace, killing her was a public service."

"Did you feel the same way when you thought Uncle Victor had done it?" Natalie asked, watching as her father's frown gave his answer away. "That's what I thought."

"That's entirely different, and you know it," Clint pointed out. "That man has done horrible things, and if he got locked up, that would be a public service too!"

"Clint…" Viki cautioned.

"I just don't understand why she's defending him," Clint said.

"Because he saved my life!" Natalie blurted out, drawing everyone's attention.

"My brother saved your life?" Viki asked skeptically. "How?"

"We were locked up in the basement together for the last month or two. Allison had been keeping him down there for probably six months, at least," Natalie said. "I tried to escape, so she put me down there too. That last day, she came downstairs to kill me, said she needed my body to complete her plan to frame John."

"Oh Natalie," Viki sighed.

"I just remember lying there and seeing that gun pointed at me, and I just knew…this was it. I was going to die," Natalie said. "And then Victor lunged at her, and he fought her to get the gun away. It went off and he got shot, but he kept fighting, and when he knocked the gun out of her hands…well, I grabbed it and I shot her. But she would have killed me if he hadn't fought her off."

"So what you're saying is that Victor Lord, Jr. saved your life?" Clint asked.

"Believe me, it sounds as strange to me as it probably does to all of you," Natalie said. "When I first found him down there, I thought I must have died, because he was supposed to be dead. You'd think after all these years, I would have learned that in Llanview, people don't always stay buried like they're supposed to - especially when Mitch Laurence is somehow involved."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** Well, here it is...the final chapter of Dear John! Thank you all so much for your reviews, messages, favorites and follows throughout this story. It means so much to know that people like reading these stories that pop into my head! I've already begun posting my next story, Missing Pieces, a semi-AU that focuses on Natalie and the whole Buchanan family (with a strong dose of Jolie, because how could I not?) - I hope that you will all go check that out too.

I'm still debating an epilogue for this story, but for now, I'm going to mark it as complete. I hope you all enjoy the final chapter!

* * *

Viki's hand was shaking as she knocked gently on the door and stepped into the dimly lit hospital room.

"Go away," a voice muttered from the bed at the center of the room.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Viki said, closing the door behind her and walking slowly toward the bed. "You see, I need to do something that I haven't done very often. I need to apologize to my brother…and ask him to please forgive me."

Victor frowned and turned his head to look at Viki in surprise.

"I know, we usually do this the other way around, don't we?" Viki said, smiling sadly. "When I got the hospital and John told us that you'd been with Natalie when they found her…part of me wanted to believe that you would never have had anything to do with kidnapping my daughter, but…"

"But the smarter part of you knew that history didn't exactly support that position," Victor offered.

"I wouldn't say it was the smarter part of me, but yes, a part of me," Viki agreed. "I'll admit, it's difficult to separate Todd's history from your history…or even from your history _as_ Todd. I don't have much history with you as…well, as you."

"Yeah, well, we can all thank Irene for that," Victor said bitterly.

"What I'm trying to say is that I shouldn't have believed it," Viki said. "Even if I wasn't sure how you'd treat Natalie, I know that there is no way you would have left Tea or the children, not willingly."

Victor nodded, but didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry, Victor," Viki said simply. "Will you please forgive me? Can we start fresh?"

"Victoria Lord, apologizing," Victor mused. "I ought to put that on the cover of _The Sun_. It'll need a catchier headline, though."

Viki shook her head and sighed. "Victor, I don't know how to tell you this…"

"Don't tell me," Victor said. "I don't have _The Sun_ anymore, do I?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Well, I suppose I have been dead for over a year, I can't have expected them not to distribute my assets," Victor said. "How's Jack doing with the paper? He hasn't run it into the ground, has he?"

"Jack?"

"Yeah, Jack," Victor repeated. "I left him the _The Sun_. Well, to him and to Sam, but he's way too young to be responsible for that horrified look on your face. What'd Jack do to my paper?"

"Nothing," Viki assured him. "Victor, in the will that got entered in court, you didn't leave the paper to your sons. You didn't leave anything to your children."

"Of course I did," Victor insisted. "The paper went to the boys, most of the rest of the business assets went to Tea, and then to Dani and Starr when Tea's gone, and the money got split between them all. That was what my will said."

"Which is why we all were certain the will that got entered in court was a fake, but the judge accepted it," Viki said.

"Who did it go to?" Victor asked. "Viki?"

"Irene," Viki admitted reluctantly.

"My mother?" Victor asked in shock. "I wouldn't give that bitch the time of day! Irene Manning is running my business?"

"No," Viki said. "Irene was killed not long after you were."

"Thank God for small favors," Victor said. "Who do I thank for that one?"

"Todd."

"Figures," Victor muttered. "So who got my stuff?"

"Irene left everything to one person," Viki said. "Tina."

Victor's eyes grew wide as he watched Viki's face for any sign that she was joking. "Tina Roberts is running my newspaper? Tina, with the stupid little dog? Dear God, this is a disaster!"

Viki shook her head. "No. Actually, Tina turned around and gave everything right back to Todd, since it was really all his to begin with."

"I don't suppose he'd be interested in selling it so I can put that headline out tomorrow," Victor said, offering a disappointed shrug. "Well, I guess I'll just have to start another newspaper."

"You don't seem all that broken up about finding out you've lost everything," Viki said.

"Being dead kind of shifts your priorities," Victor said. "I just want to see Tea and the kids and be with my family right now."

Viki frowned. "I don't care which of my brothers you are, you're terrible at lying to me," Viki said. "Why are you really so calm about this?"

"Okay, hypothetically speaking, if your long-lost twin showed up and threatened to take everything you had - and you thought he had even a small chance of succeeding - what would you do?"

Viki paused as she thought about the question and then gasped. "Oh God, those investments!"

"What investments?"

"When Todd first took everything over again, all he could talk about was what a horrible investor you were, how you'd lost all these millions in bad investments," Viki said. "But you didn't lose that money, did you? You hid it?"

"You ever been to a Swiss bank, Viki? They're really nice," Victor said with a grin.

Viki stared at him for a moment before smiling. "Does this confidence mean that I'm forgiven?"

"Yeah, well, it's either that or Tina becomes my favorite sister," Victor said. "And since I don't see that happening anytime this side of a cold day in hell…yeah, I guess you're forgiven for thinking I'm an evil bastard."

* * *

John smiled as he brushed a strand of hair from Natalie's face and watched her eyes slowly flutter open. He'd been putting off waking her up, but he knew a nurse would be in soon to take her vitals anyway, so he figured she was going to wake up one way or the other.

"Hey," he said softly when her eyes met his.

"You look like crap, John," Natalie said. "When did you sleep last?"

John shrugged. "About five months ago, I think. Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"Did you call Tea?"

"Your mom did," John said. "She's on her way with Dani and Sam. Starr's still in Port Charles, and Jack's on a ski trip, but your mom's trying to reach them both."

"That's good," Natalie said. "Hey John?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for calling you an idiot earlier."

John chuckled. "I deserved it…more than you know."

"What does that mean?" Natalie asked in confusion.

"A lot has happened in the last five months, Natalie," John said. "A lot of things that I'm not proud of, things that…"

"I thought we went through this, John," Natalie interrupted. "What Allison did is on her, not on you. Did I hope that someone would realize all that stuff was out of character for me? Of course I did, but you can't blame yourself…she was very convincing."

John shook his head. "There are things…things that happened, that I don't even know if you know about."

"You're talking about that woman in Port Charles, aren't you?" Natalie asked.

"So you did see the picture. Natalie, I…"

"I thought it was just something else that Allison had twisted together," Natalie said. "She made you think I'd left you, that I was keeping Liam from you, that I'd moved on to some other guy. She made Uncle Bo…_Bo_, of all people…believe that you had beaten me. It couldn't have taken much effort to throw something together to try to make me believe you'd cheated on me."

"I wish that were all that it was," John said, looking down at her hand nestled in his. "The picture wasn't staged, Natalie. We'd been drinking and I was missing you and…"

"So you just grabbed the nearest woman and figured, what the hell, she'll do?" Natalie asked, pulling her hand back to her chest. "Did you sleep with her?"

"No," John assured her. "No, I didn't sleep with her."

Natalie nodded and pursed her lips in thought. "Did you kiss her again?"

"Yes." John sighed and reached for Natalie's hand, but was not at all surprised when she pulled it away. "Natalie, I don't want to lie to you, whatever you need to know, I'll tell you. But you have to know, I love _you_, not her. She didn't mean anything, and I'm never going to see her again."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Natalie asked. "Is that supposed to help me sleep at night the next time you run off to chase another demon from your past?"

"There won't be a next time."

Natalie scoffed. "Right. And those I assume those are flying pigs out the window? John, I know you. There's always going to be another ghost to chase, another bad guy to track down at the expense of your family. It was one thing when it was just me you were letting down, but Liam doesn't deserve to grow up that way."

"No, he doesn't," John agreed. "I know you have no reason to believe me, or to give me another chance, but I'm not going anywhere, Natalie. I almost lost you and Liam, and if that had happened…well, I don't think I could have lived with myself. You don't have to forgive me right away, but I'm going to be right here. I'm going to prove to you that I get it now…there is nothing more important than our family. And that's a promise."

Natalie bit her lip to keep from crying. "You…you shouldn't make promises you can't keep, McBain."

John nodded and reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek. "I don't," he whispered, leaning forward and kissing her softly. Things might be hard for a while, but as long as he was near her, he knew he'd make them right in time.


End file.
